Beech Tree News Network

The above title was on a magazine cover I saw once. As I read that title, I could not help but stand amazed at the extent to which our society has become enamored with self. Is it not amazing that someone could find “759 ways” to improve one’s physical life, and in all of this could not see that there is but one thing that will make the greatest improvement? The greatest improvement for a person is the salvation of one’s soul from sin! Yes, it is the soul of man that needs help, rather than the body, for this is the part of man that endures! The apostle Paul wrote, “...

The New Year’s Resolution tradition goes all the way back to 153 B.C.  Legend has it that Janus, a mythical king of early Rome, was placed at the head of the calendar.  Having two faces, Janus could look back as well as ahead. 
The New Year hasn’t always begun on January 1.  And it doesn’t begin on that date everywhere today.  It only begins on that date for those who have a 365 day calendar.  In 46 B.C., January 1 became the beginning of the New Year.  That was when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that reflected seasons more accurately than did others.

Our new year, 2013, still sounds odd to many of us. It’s the first “13” most of us have entered. My grandparents lived in 1913: my grandfather was 12, and my grandmother was nine. But, that year wasn’t a part of any of their stories. A hundred years ago, things were not like today.

The Internet (primarily Wikipedia) provided historical information about 1913. Some significant events included:

If I ever hear a real Southerner say “husking” corn (It’s “shucking”!), I’m running to the nearest church with an old-fashioned altar and bawling my eyes out.
Yankees all went to Florida at first, now they are here… cheaper living.  And they have brought with them bagels and garlic, not to mention raw green beans, rare meat and sugared-cornbread.  It’s called REVERSE MIGRATION and NORTHERN OSMOSIS, which has resulted in somewhat tainted “southspeak” and Dixie customs.

It’s that time of year again.  We had the most wonderful time of the year. The New Year is about to be here (or is, depending on when you read this).  Also, it’s time once again for my annual Big Dummy of the Year Awards. The Fred Sanford-inspired awards,this year have five nominees making the list and an honorable mention that could double as a lifetime achievement if they play their cards right(or wrong, as the case may be).

Magicians’ sleight of hand fools most people when it is done correctly. When watching them, we are wise when we heed the warning, “Don’t believe your eyes.” Many a short man has been made taller on television and in the movies by filming him next to his “leading lady” while he stands on a box! Many a computer has generated scenes and events for movies that could never have happened otherwise. Again, don’t believe your eyes! Since our senses, especially our sight, can be misled, does it not then make sense that through our senses, specifically our sight, Satan will tempt us to do evil?

The year of 2012 has been filled with events. Some events were entertaining, while others significantly changed our world. The events listed below are arbitrarily ordered.

•    Our weather this year included spring tornadoes followed by record summer temperatures.  Then in October, Hurricane Sandy swept through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States, leaving hundreds dead and thousands without power or shelter.

Even in the old days teachers had “busy work”. I spect some of you knew that. Besides helping little Cecil “know his beans”, (beans were used as an arithmetic teaching tool: “Here are 4 beans- take away 2; How many are left?”) One function of the educational bureaucracy was to write out by little Cecil’s name in the roll book how he got to school each day in the first place.

Earlier today, I was listening to my granddaughter, Sabria, laugh as she dropped red and green beads into the icing atop a solid chocolate candy house that she and her mother, Natalie, were putting together.  She cheered for herself after each successful try.  (She has yet to learn the adult practice of false modesty.)  She wanted to start nibbling on it as soon as it was finished, but her mom, like moms everywhere, told her it’s too pretty to eat, you will have to wait until later, and stand still so I can get your picture with it.  Unbeknownst to Natalie, she placed the house on the kitch