The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Wisdom Or 21st Century Craziness

by Dessa Rodeffer
Quill Editor/Publisher

20 June 2001

Welcome to the windy city, I thought when I arrived in Chicago this past weekend. But the weekend was actually calm and beautiful in Chicago.

The streets were full of strollers and shoppers around Michigan Ave. and the boat harbor and walking trails were full of those loving the outdoors. Then the evening crowd began to congregate along the Rush street bars.

I and daughter Darci were in Chicago to attend one of her college classmate's weddings. Others from the area had taken the train to the Cubs vs. the Twins ballgame.

I was told the game was fun (Cubs won) and their were still extra seats left.

It was back home where I had left the wind. Strong winds had been occurring so frequently that I had six Elm trees cut from behind my office after branches were threatening our power lines.

There has been so much action around our small communities besides the wind.

The most disturbing is the incident of a father found murdered in Oquawka and his 12-year-old son nearly murdered. It's as though the wild west has returned with only a different label - "The Crazy Fools Of The Twenty-First Century."

In our schools the major subject in fifth grade is becoming "DARE" as children sing, "Dare to Keep A Kid off Drugs." A lot of money is spent on educating our kids, yet the pressures at home or out in the world seem too great for everyone to overcome the temptation.

Drugs and alcohol are highly related to many of the accidents, fights, and poor choices people make, yet most of our adult society continues to model to our children that it is okay to use it.

One of Darci's Asian classmates of the University of Illinois lives and works in downtown Chicago. She attended the wedding with us.

We were amazed by the amount of alcohol floating around in celebration of the new bride and her groom. The dancing got crazier as families and children watched these adults start their new life together. By the time the garter was removed, you can imagine how crazy things were getting, as if the audience wasn't even there any longer watching, but we were.

Darci's Asian friend, said something about honor and that she would not want to be looked upon as a fool.

I couldn't help but wonder how crazy the parties were in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and how God destroyed the cities because he couldn't find another Godly man there but Lot.

Will we ever learn? And does following the crowd ever pay off?

I believe celebrating a special occasion contrasts with getting out-of-control and crazy. They are two different things. The first is about control and wisdom, the second is an excuse to let ourselves go and be foolish.

If we could only take control of our actions in all things, wouldn't it help to produce good things.

Maybe just one or two of us could encourage the crowd, could stop an accident, could save a marriage, and more importantly could influence a child. We could help mold the next generation into wise leaders, not followers of craziness. God knows there is enough of that.

Seek after wisdom, avoid the craziness around you, and maybe we can make a change plus a new reputation for this century we have just begun.