Beech Tree News Network

Get out and Vote in the 2022 Primary Election

In Kentucky’s last primary election in 2020 less than 32% of eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots.  The outcome elections affects us all.  Participating in the voting process is as important now as it has ever been.  Kentucky’s primary election day is May 17.  Early voting can be done May 12-May 14.    

I don’t mean to sound paranoid, but I think the Buzzards in our area are watching me.  I noticed it while doing yard work, one day about a month ago.  Three Buzzards lit on the roof of my house and stayed longer than a good guest should.  When I told Garey about it, he just laughed and said I had slowed down substantially since my retirement, and the Buzzards had taken note.  (Ha! Ha! He won’t think it so funny when he comes home to my bones being picked over in my own driveway, now, will he?)

            We have learned in recent weeks about the Old Testament’s teaching concerning the silence of the Scripture. We saw that in the Old Testament, when God was silent, then this meant that the people could not act. God’s silence was restrictive! Just as the Old Testament teaches us that we cannot act when God is silent, so also the New Testament teaches us the same thing. For instance, we know that no angel is God’s son.

Life is uncertain and unpredictable. Throughout God’s Word we are reminded of that by passages such as James 4:14 which compares our life to a vapor that “… appears for a little time and then vanishes away. “. How True!  We are young and then before we can grasp the passing of years, we are old. I have asked two or three people recently, “why are my doctors and physical therapists younger than me?”   It is overwhelmingly an often unwelcome truth!

In “The Patriot,” set during the Revolutionary War, 18-year-old Gabriel Martin pushes for independence, trying to avoid assignment to the militia unit commanded by his father.

When his efforts fail, young Gabriel petulantly reminds his father: “I’m the best scout in the Continental Army, the best horseman, the best shot, the best scavenger.”

“Is that so?” his father replied.

“Yes, sir,” Gabriel sputters. “I could be of better service with the regulars.”

Week 15

This week marked the official end of the 2022 Regular Session, the veto period and the two subsequent days for the General Assembly to override Governor Andy Beshear's vetoes. In addition to the overrides, we were able to pass a few additional bills, which we expect to be signed into law.

Music executive Art Rupe, who founded Specialty Records, has died at 104.  His artists included John Lee Hooker and Lloyd Price.  Rupe helped launch the careers of Little Richard and Sam Cooke.  Rupe, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, died on Friday at his home in Santa Barbara, California, according to the Arthur N Rupe Foundation.  The foundation did not release a cause of death. 

With spring’s arrival, many of us are thinking about yard work. I saw a quote that said, “Adult peer pressure: seeing your neighbor mow their lawn.” I like a neat yard. If my lawn looks overgrown, I want that chore done – ASAP. Unfortunately, other responsibilities, an illness, or a few days of rain may give grass time to grow higher than desired. Lawn ‘care’ is work.

Brother and Sister cats took one of Garey’s hearing aids.  He keeps them on his dresser in our bedroom.  The impressive feat wasn’t that they jumped up onto his dresser.  The impressive feat was that they landed, and after doing so, located and retrieved the hearing aid.

            In our last article, we began a study to show that God’s silence is restrictive. We started by noting that man’s silence is restrictive. When we order something from a menu or online, it is understood we only want what we ordered. We do not list all the things we do not want as well as what we want. In our jobs, there are rules that must be respected. For example, if our job calls for us to wear a hard hat, we cannot substitute a paper hat or no hat at all. We must respect the rules of the company.