“It’s been a quiet week here in Lake Wobegon….” I always want to start my post that way. “It’s been a quiet week here in Greenville, Mississippi….” Life in the Mississippi delta does crawl along at about the same pace as the corn, soybeans, and cotton crops. The Spring crest of the Mississippi river has come and gone without even a serious challenge to the levee… so the annual excitement of watching the river rise is over. Folks in the flood zones are sending away the critters that always visit when the water is high, and now are settling in for summer. Long lazy summer days are the real season for which you buy a house on the lake or river.
Things are pretty quiet. The crime rate even seems to have slowed down a little. Of course the mosquitos have gathered in Greenville. From now ’til late Fall it is kind of like an insect version of Spring Break in a Florida beach community. Hopefully the city will start spraying soon and that excitement too will be die out somewhat.
However, about the time you settle in… life throws a few chili peppers into the recipe. By now some of you know an aquaintance of my son’s won American Idol. That was exciting. Well, our brush with stardom continues. My wife went to Wal-Mart the other night and brought home a new Christian romance novel…”The Reluctant Cowgirl.” Now that name might not mean much to you, not yet at least, but the name right under it means a lot to us: Christine Lynxwiler. Chris is one of my wife’s suitemates from college, a bridesmaid in our wedding, and her and her husband Kevin are really special friends to us. When the ice storm hit my wife’s hometown it was the Lynxwilers who braved the hazardous roads to check on her aged parents. We have signed copies of her earlier books, but this is the first one we’ve purchased at Wal-Mart. Congratulations to Chris. [So Kris Allen wins American Idol, and Christine (Chris) Lynxwiler sees her book make the "big time"... if you know us and your name is some derivative of "Chris" this might be a good time to take a chance on something big.]
In the media it seems Evan Thomas from Newsweek stuck his foot in his mouth. Getting all hyped up on the Obama bandwagon froth he stated on national television that Obama was above the nation, over the world… sorta “like God” (rough paraphrase… go to youtube for the quote). Bad analogy; I don’t know where this will lead, but it cannot be anywhere good. We’ll see.
But finally, we marked a great anniversary Saturday. This was the article in the San Francisco Chronicle for a past generation… (If you are a woman of violent temperment please take a moment before reading further to remove all breakable and lethal items from within your arms reach.)
Alice Ramsey, the president of the Women’s Motoring Club of New York, set off on an automobile trip from New York to San Francisco today along 
with three ofther women. “From the start to the end Mrs. Ramsey will do the driving and furthermore, will have to make alone all the tire repairs, tire changes, and such for, while she will not be alone in the car she will be unaccompanied by a man. It is this that makes the trip all the more interesting for it will be the first time that a woman has ever attempted the long journey betweenthe two cities under these conditions. Unassisted she will have to pick the route, guide the car across the Rocky mountains, and in fact, will travel over roads and routes that would tax an expert male driver.”
She set out to cover the 3800 miles in her 1909 Maxwell, reaching breakneck speeds of up to 42 miles per hour… all without the help of a man. They did have to repair and replace tires. The coil went out in Syracuse. In the Midwest the transmission ran out of water so they had to improvise with some from run off in the ditch. “”Get a horse,” yelled a passerby. Without roadmaps, navigation was difficult . (Insert here that sexist joke on the tip of your tongue concerning reading maps or asking directions.) The Maxwell Company often sent “pilot cars” to help out, and on ocassion rough roads, 
muddy roads, and deadends caused them to backtrack many miles. Knowing her directions specified turning his “yellow barn,” one horse lover hurried and painted his barn green before she arrived. And yes, on one ocassion they did run out of gas. However, fifty-nine days after leaving New Jersey she arrived in San Francisco… to the amazement of all… without a man.
Maybe we are making more progress than we think as we muddle our way towards Genesis 2. It’s amazing how our cultural perceptions sway us and make the absurd seem reasonable. Generations after generations struggling with the battle of the sexes while God’s guidance stood in the text all the while. Makes one wonder what social traditions to which we cling and social innovations we herald as the dawning of a new world today will, a hundred years from now, be the humor in someone’s blog article. While men debate a new society and new norms, while men search for new roads and a sure map for living together in this world, behind it all God has given us a word. The Lord of the universe has given us gudiance, the creator has shared his wisdom… will we listen or muddle onward and mess it up.
“Trust in the Lord and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your ways straight.” Proverbs 3
