Clearfield County Fair
147th Edition

We climbed into the 1958 Buick Roadmaster. Gopher, who was going to be a senior in high school, drove. His kid brother, I and my cousin climbed into the passenger seats [no seatbelts]. We were headed to the fair. We stopped for a fill up [25 cents per gallon] and Gopher picked up some Pall Malls [30 cents a pack]. He lit up and we roared off to Clearfield on three double deuce [US 322] for a Wednesday night of fun at the Clearfield County Fair…the 103rd Edition.

Folks have made the fair the centerpiece of their summers for 147 years. But, much has changed in that time, making it less of an attraction. It used to be that the fair is when you saw top drawer entertainment. Headliners like Lawrence Welk, Red Skeleton, Bob Hope, The Beach Boys, Chicago, Kenny Rogers, Willy Nelson, Randy Travis, Clint Black, Vince Gill, George Strait, Tim McGraw, were regulars on the fair stage. Now there are over the hill pop stars [Doobbie Brothers, Meat Loaf] and second tier country performers on the stage. Why? The fair board cannot afford the lead acts any longer.

I can recall when Bob Hope was the star attraction thirty years ago. He wanted paid in cash. Not a check, cash as in green backs. The woman who escorted him around was a bank employee. She delivered him his fee, $10,000 in cold, hard cash! Now, you could not get a third rate bagpipe player for that kind of money. The county fair circuit is now for retreads and has-been entertainers who want you to “remember when”. The big money and exposure is in TV, Las Vegas and other casino areas, Hollywood and larger city venues. Entertainment is readily available in other places. The fair shows are no longer a big deal.

The granges around the county were the engine behind the fair. It was a gathering of people of the land displaying their wares. Each grange had a booth in which they sold home made food straight from the farm. Well, the Department of Environmental Resources [now Protection] changed all that. No longer could the granges prepare food off site and bring it to the fair to sell. The regulators could not assure the cleanliness and safety of the food products. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have fried food fro Aunt Sallie’s kitchen than John the Greek who may not change his cooking oil for the whole week! This was a blow to the granges since it eliminated a source of revenue from sales at the fair. Our government protecting us from the grangers and subjecting us to over the road vender food!

The fair is no longer the only place to vacation for local folks. Theme parks are within distance and budget of most folks today. So, you don’t have to go the he fair to ride rides and do carnival things. It was a great road trip for a teenager in the early sixties, but there is so much more available today for entertainment. Sulky races, thrill drivers, tractor pulls, they are still part of the fair, but the appeal to a shrinking and smaller population. The livestock exhibits are still a “one of a kind” experience, but it is shocking how few people have ever been around farms and farm animals. On a recent trip with my 15 year old grandson to a dairy farm in Northern Ireland, I discovered he had never been to a farm or around farm animals in his years on this earth!

Lucas worked in the cow barns one year at the fair. It was 12 days of hot, dirty work. But, he came away with more appreciation of the farmer and the lives they lead. But, we are increasingly an urban and suburban country. Farmers are at best ignored, and at worse treated as an under-class. The common man has no idea how dependent we are on these men and women of the land for food and sustenance. The county fair was originally to celebrate their harvest and their lives with an atmosphere of carnival and entertainment thrown in. Now, it is a commercial venture where the farmer has a bit role and the fun and entertainment is no longer first rate. A great deal has changed in 44 years.

If you happen to be in this area of the Eastern Continental Divide, drop into the 147th Clearfield County Fair at the Clearfield Driving Park. It runs through Saturday, August 4. Take in the sights and sounds and smells. That has not changed much. But, remember, it “ain’t what it used to be”. Come to think about it most things aren’t. And, that is shamefully sad.

Books
The Pirates of the Caribbean

If you are looking to end your summer with a breezy historical narrative, chose Colin Woodward’s The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Woodward focuses on the Golden Age of Piracy (1715-1725) by telling the story of “The Flying Gang” as the conglomeration of pirates in New Providence, Bahamas, called themselves. However, he focuses in on the lives of three of most famous of that era: “Black Sam” Bellamy, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach [or Thatch as some claim his surname was] and Charles Vane.

The story really begins with the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and the problems that conflict caused in the Caribbean. The Spanish drove the British out of the Bahamas early in the conflict which according to Woodward opened the door for piracy by leaving a lawless area of many islands. But, possibly more importantly, the hiring of privateers by all sides to prey on each other was the whetting of appetites for personal piracy. In fact, the man who brought the Pirate Republic to an end was Woodes Rogers, a famous privateer for the UK during the war.

Privateers turned to piracy, that is, personal enrichment instead of piracy for king and country, when the war ended. There was a large complement of men available from privateer days as well as unemployed, disgruntled military sailors and black slaves. Because the Caribbean islands had many colonial possessors and all suffered damage during the war, the Caribbean was a wide open place for privateering turned piracy.

Woodward’s story is fast paced and rollicking. Rogers became the governor of the Bahamas by appointment of King George in 1718 but the threat of piracy did not really begin to abate until Charles Vane was hanged in 1720. The reconstruction of the confrontation between Balckbeard and his men on the Adventure and Robert Maynard of HMS and his men on he Jane at Okracoke Inlet, NC, on 21 October 1718, is truth stranger that fiction. It rivals any fiction you will ever read.

While Bellamy, Blackbeard and Vane meet tragic, violent ends, the story of Rogers is just as tragic. During the war, in which he was a hero, being the only privateer to capture a Spanish galleon, he suffered serious, life threatening injuries from the fighting. To return as governor of the Bahamas he had to put out 20,000 pounds of his own, which he was never repaid by the Crown. He drove the pirates from the Bahamas but could not save himself. He went into bankruptcy and landed in debtors prison, a disgraced hero.

The book is well researched and written. Some of the author’s premises you may have trouble swallowing. He posits that the pirates introduced democracy to the new world. How? By running their ships in a democratic manner…all hands decided on where they went, what vessels they attacked and even who was their captain. They shared equally the captured booty and the captain only had absolute authority in battle situations. Vane’s fate was a case in point. He was deposed as captain and put off his ship. He had a small sloop that eventually was marooned as a result of a storm on the Bay of Honduras. He was taken on by a passing ship, later recognized and arrested. He was taken to Jamaica for trail and hanging, an ignoble and whimpering end to one of the most viscious of the Caribbean pirates.

Did the democratic impulse that developed in the New World come from pirates? That may be a little too much romanticism. Yet, compared to the Disney 3quel about Caribbean pirates, this book is a refreshing look at the historical place of the Pirate Republic. The rise of pirate power is analyzed from a world stage and gives us insight into what happens yet today. Remember in Afghanistan the Mujahideen were empowered by the west to run out the Soviets. When the job was done what happened? They disintegrated, there was no order and in the chaos the Taliban arose to rule being more ruthless and oppressive than the Russians. Enjoy a dose of history of the Caribbean that has been little understood because of the heretofore romanticized pirates and also apply it to what goes on today. As the saying goes: There is no new news, just old news happening to new people!

The Way it Was
Teenagers in 1936

Several years ago in preparing for the sale of my parents’ home, I came across the first edition of The Brady Bugle. This was the student newspaper of the defunct Brady High School. This March 1936 issue was entitled the Senior Edition. Dad had an article in it, thus his retention of this heirloom. You will see a great contrast between the concerns and wit of teenagers [I am sure they were not called such in 1936!] then and teenagers now. You will enjoy this but it should also give you great concern. By reading The Brady Bugle, I think you will begin to understand what a godless, violent, family shattered, self-centered, sensate culture has done to 21st century young people over a 70 year period.

Knarr’s View on Activities
By James Knarr

A majority of the students of this high school will never continue their education in college, so why should we spend all our time in preparation for college courses? In my four years at school, I could not have gained more practical knowledge in such courses as home economics, manual training and bookkeeping, than to spend my time learning facts. I am not complaining about learning facts, because I realize that facts are the foundation of all education.
If my daily routine includes something I like as well as what is necessary for me, my interest in all my work would naturally be stimulated. Is there a student among us who will not have to perform the ordinary tasks around the home? It is true we can learn those things from experience, but experience is a dear school. I believe it would be an advantage to each student to know those these simple principles rather that to learn them for himself by trial and error method. Our daily life would be made happier by application of these courses and undesirable home conditions aided. Courses of appreciation, such as Art, are necessary if we are to enjoy the more beautiful things of life.
What we do in school does determine our future lives. It often brings out in us some talent that might otherwise never materialize. If our daily activity is increased by extra curriculum we would have a better chance in finding something that would appeal to us. There courses should be optional as it would not pay to force such studies on those who do not are for them, though these are people who may need them most. Study of manual training and home economics should be included in B.H.S.

Tall Story Reveals All
By Clarence Kriner

I suppose you folks would wonder how I came to be a large pepper manufacturer, at which I am now a rich man. A friend and I went into the north of Alaska for a camping trip in the dead of winter. Imagine camping in the winter! We did not take enough supplies along, but that was not unusual. This time we forgot the pepper, the same of which I am very fond. It was a bitterly cold morning. I arose to kindle the fire. I lit the fire and, to hurry it, I poured some kerosene on it. The kerosene hastened the fire up so much that the flame shot up the chimney. I ran out to see if there could be any harm done and to my surprise, the afire had frozen as it come out. That was just the thing! We took the frozen fire down, ground it up, and sold it for pepper. Believe it or not!

Etiquette
By Ruth Bennett

Don’t be a Goop! Know your manners. Which of your friends have the best manners? What pleases you most in their manners? Come manners to remember.
Conversation or gossip – Do not monopolize conversation, either with an older person or with people of your own age. Remember that conversation is an interchange of thought and ideas not a monologue. Courtesy demands an interest in others. If you don all the talking it is a ding that your interest centers on yourself.
Having a guest – Always rise to greet a guest, and, after seeing that he is comfortably seated, turn the conversation of interest to him. If you are a girl and your caller is a boy, who has a tendency to stay late, it is not discourteous to tell him that your parents prefer your caller should not stay after ten o’clock.
Dress – Girls, as well as boys, should be inconspicuously dressed at all times. The simple rule is not so simple as it seems, nor is it as easy to follow. Smartness is in simplicity. Consult your physique or figure, before choosing clothes. Heavy figures do not look their best in tight clothes. Complexion should determine the colors you wear and they should be harmonized and be limited. To be becomingly dressed, you should consult your mirror rather than the fashion books for many details, for dress is an individual matter.
This is the type of good manners we want – the kind that will make others more comfortable or happy.

Celtic Proverbs
The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom

Some might say that since wisdom consists of escaping the wrath of God, we had best give Him a wide berth lest He notice our dirty little secrets and burn us forever in Hell. But that is pretty extreme stuff; much better to say that the defiance of God is the beginning of foolishness and that if we are too stupid or too headstrong to understand what has been ordained, we are tempting our own destruction. Natural law is natural law and however we think of God, even if we do not think of Him at all, if we put our hand into a fire we burn, if we try to breathe water we drown and if we fly too close to the sun, the bindings will melt from our wings.

R. Martin Helick, Travelers From an Ancient Land, Book XII, An Chros, (Regent Graphics: Swissvale, PA, 1993)

Postmodernism
Evangelizing Postmoderns

In the latest SGM Magazine, I wrote a piece entitled “The Postmodern Man: Hey Joe…” in which I posited:

Joe is no different that any other person who needs a savior. What makes his situation different is the culture he lives in.

I have received comments that yeah I know, or am, that person. And, yeah he needs to hear the “good news”, but how?

My pastor, Charles Winkler, did his doctoral work on evangelizing postmoderns. His view of evangelism is an inductive method which combines evangelism with the Christian counseling approach of love-know-speak-do. Tim Keller, another PCA pastor at Redeemer Church in NYC, also is wary of the deductive method of rationally presenting the truth to folks who question “a truth” to be embraced, or that you have the ability to understand truth. He attempts to expose the idols in their lives that lead to the hopelessness and futility that postmoderns often experience in this world. The Emergent or Emerging Church [which is hard to define], seems to believe evangelism is accomplished by capitulating to the culture. But, that is a commitment to ambiguity and uncertainty which leaves little room for a Lord of your life.

While the Winkler and Keller methods may not be conventional, they do get a person to the question of truth. Embracing the culture is another story. While one can appreciate the critique of modernism’s certainty, that does not leave us with uncertainty. There are distinct and logical propositions that underpin faith in Christ. We may disagree on what they are but they do exist. There is revealed truth about Jesus Christ and eventually that must become a part of evangelizing postmoderns. Truth is certainly more that propositions, but it is not less than. We cannot accept the skepticism about the reality of truth or the ability to discern the truth.

This brings us to one of the key areas in evangelizing postmoderns…pursuit of holiness. It is a living out of propositions taught in Scripture where the experiential side of truth is evidenced. So, in asking the questions of postmoderns to discern their lives inductively and then helping them to see how they are enslaved to idols, a superior existence in Christ can be offered through the Gospel. And how is that done? Through holy living…the truth of the Gospel applied to a life results in Christian living.

Here we see a major objection from postmoderns. Holy living is categorized as modern day “legalism”. In a culture where there is no overarching truth there is no behavior that can be categorized as “wrong”. But, a Christianity that is conformed to the world and permits loving this world is contrary to Biblical teaching [propositions anyone!]. and allows a Christian to be at one with the world. In Scripture we find what we must believe and how we must live as Christ followers. And, that is antithetical to the world not in lock step with it. Christians are counter-cultural.

Here is where the evangelizer must be very careful. Remember the Great Apostle. In writing to the churches, he was concerned about their behavior not the behavior of worldlings. So, the best way to explain holy living as living out the truth of Scripture, is to reveal in ourselves a consistent, holy, Christian life. We who call ourselves Christians must act like Christians. Are the propositional truths of the Gospel evident in my life? If not, we have no business evangelizing…we need a fruit inspection. It is our obligation in evangelizing postmoderns to show them that Christian living is not “legalism” but a way of living that reflects the reality of the grace, truth and goodness of God. We must first believe and live the Gospel before we can proclaim it to others. If you do not, do not expect to evangelize postmoderns.

Church and State
The Pope and the Senator

I appreciate the candor of the Roman Catholic Church. In a document released on 29 June, the Vatican’s Congregation for Defense of the Faith [which the present pontiff headed for some time as Cardinal Ratzinger] reiterates a long held doctrine tat the RCC is the only true church. Why? Because it is the valid expression of the church in an unending historical flow from St. Peter as the First Bishop of Rome to the present day Monarch of the church.

I welcome this statement because the RCC is refusing to genuflect to the religious pluralism of the age. In a time when all ideas are treated as equal the RCC says we are right and you are wrong. They are reaffirming their principles. You and I may disagree with them but you know where they stand. They are not pretending to represent some sort of squishy ecumenism that was more evident during the papacy of John Paul II. Benedict is a theologian and in his rule the church will stand for RCC orthodoxy.

Yesterday’s Senate prayer shows why this is important. Hindu Rajan Zed delivered the first non-monotheistic prayer in the US Senate at the invitation of Majority Leader Harry Reid. Now, from the pluralism standpoint that’s a good thing, and Reid makes that point:

I think its speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak, in communication with our Heavenly Father, regarding peace. [Emphasis added.]

Notice the statement in bold. Sen. Reid believes Zed can communicate with god, gods or God? Reid, of course, is a Mormon. So, the Senator’s god is not the same as the Triune God of the Bible, so why not a Hindu who can have both personal and impersonal gods?
Our prayers all get to the same end do they not…the Heavenly Father?

There were some protests in the chambers. That is not something I endorse. There is nothing unconstitutional in having a Hindu, a Muslim, a witch, Satan worshipper or Mork of Ork pray. But, why would/should we? The US Senate is not a place for the demonstration of religious pluralism or ecumenism, “we are at one with the world’s religions”. Should we not be standing for our principles, the Judeo-Christian principles that shaped this nation. Let the Hindus pray in Delhi. Let us celebrate our religious tradition and not be part of a pluralism that attempts to justify eastern mystic religions as a valid way to the Heavenly Father.

Do you see why I find the RCC statement refreshing?

Celtic Proverbs
Better “O Mary my misery” than “O Mary my shame”

Better wretchedness that shame, better physical discomfort that the knowledge that we have transgressed a privilege or violated a trust. This assumes, of course, that we have the insight to know what we should do and what we should not and that we experience pain when we make the wrong choice. The Church comes down hard on this second point and evokes the terror of Hell to make sure that the pain is felt. An extreme measure, many would say excessive. But is it any more excessive than the macho-secular alternatives, that we are nothing more that hairless apes and that material progress and enlightened self-interest are the brightest virtues of all?

R. Martin Helick, Travelers From an Ancient Land, Book XII, An Chros, (Regent Graphics: Swissvale, PA, 1993)

Living in the World
Brian Wells and David Vitter

These two names are associated with two of the more interesting stories of the week in summer heat where our minds are creaking from the on-going arguments over the war in Iraq. Two separate lives, one a nondescript Pizza delivery man, the other a powerful U.S. Senator from Louisiana.

You remember Wells. He robbed a bank in Erie. He was caught and cuffed. He claimed he had a bomb strapped to him and police noticed a metal device around his neck during the arrest. The police backed off retreating behind squad cars with weapons drawn. The astounding thing was Well’s demeanor through this. He spoke in non-excited tones about the bomb that was going to go off. The bomb detonated and Wells died.

The case was inexplicable. Why would a bank robber kill himself? How did he get a bomb built and fastened to his neck? Things didn’t add up. The public got a glimpse that this was really a homicide when six months later the FBI released documents that were a series of instructions to disarm the bomb requiring a scavenger type hunt for clues! So, now foul play was clearly in view, but the case became even more bizarre.

This week Wells re-emerged in the news with the report that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong would be arrested for the pizza man’s death. Ms. Diehl-Armstrong was already in prison for the homicide of James Roden. Three weeks after the Wells affair, her former fiancé, William Rothstein, called PA State Police and reported that Roden’s body was in his freezer. Ms. Diehl-Armstrong asked him to help her dispose of the body. It turns out that four men associated with Ms. Diehl-Armstrong have mysteriously died, including a friend of Wells who also worked at Mama Mia’s Pizza.

David Vitter shows up as one who was on the phone/client list of the DC Madam. A Roman Catholic who is a lector in his church, Vitter’s indiscretion(s) immediately hit the press. And, why not, he was an unspoken proponent of family values. While there are a myriad of definitions of “family values” it seems quite clear they do not include cavorting with prostitutes under any definition. The “H” word is prominent in the coverage of this matter. Hypocrite is a favorite definition applied to moral conservative Christians who fall into sin. This makes sense since a liberal Democrat whose “sexual mores” are matters of choice, not standards, cannot be a hypocrite. So, now Vitter is better known for being a “John” than a US Senator.

So, there you have it. Two men in the news, one a victim of a bombing through what appears to be a rarity, a female serial killer. It first appeared he blew himself up, which turned out not to be as it seems. Wells knew the explosion was coming; and everyone could see the bomb. The other has blown himself up by acting in a way not comporting to his outward appearance. When the senator did what he did in the company of the “call girl”, I am sure he did not see an explosion coming. But, both explosions were inevitable because of sin.

Muggeridge is credited with saying that the one Christian principle that can be empirically shown ever day is the total depravity of man. Here it is in spades. Brian Wells was nothing more than a human pawn in the mind of a depraved killer(s). David Vitter was a victim of his own sinful and depraved heart and desires. If Vitter is the Christian he claims, Paul outlines his plight well in Chapter 7 of Romans. Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin for His. But, any of us, Christian or not, is capable of death dealing sin at any time. Living in the world we are subject to Satan, sin and our flesh everyday. If you doubt this, watch the news tonight.

The Church
Non-thinking about Bioethics

In an article about bioethics, Dr. Chris Hook outlines issues that individuals and the church must grapple with over the next decades. And, he makes this damning charge against the church:

To be most blunt, the American church generally (and I am thankful for the few exceptions) can at most charitably be described as apostate, idolatrous, narcissistic, materially self-indulgent, has sold its soul to a civic religion that has attempted to democratize God’s Kingdom, and is the most pathetically ignorant (biblically, theologically, historically, scientifically and logically) since the English Reformation. As such, any attempts to successfully face the biotechnological and bioethical challenges before us, must be done in the context of a larger reformation of the American church. And every single Christian has a responsibility and accountability before God in the process.

Dr. Hook has a list of suggestions to fix the problem…solutions that are not just pertaining to the shortfall of bioethical thinking, but to all of the failings in the church today. [Read the entire article at www.reformation21.org .]

The public, Christian and non-Christian alike seem to have a fixation about the abilities of science and technology to fix all the problems of life…sovereign science as the only vehicle of truth. Christians are included in those who seek to create heaven on earth with technological advances. Ease, comfort and pleasure pursued and expanded here on earth. We are all become pragmatists and materialists in our views of life. We have not thought through our positions to determine if they are in accord with Biblical Christianity. As Dr. Hook says:

We have to create a thinking church once again, a church which understands history, theology, basic philosophy, logic and critical thinking.

Amen.

Church and State
Peace in the city

I never thought in my lifetime I would be in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a tough city. Although there has been only one bombing incident since the accords of peace were signed in 1998, the symptoms of the “troubles” are everywhere. Fences toped with barbed wire still separate Protestant and Catholic blue collar neighborhoods. Murals are painted on buildings commemorating green and orange “heroes” and evidencing the deep seeded animosity, even hatred that still exists. Neighborhoods are marked with flags of their particular cause. And, in Protestant neighborhoods wood is being gathered for the annual march and bon fire of the Order of the Orange on 12 July which is the celebration of the Williamite army of Wm. of Orange’s victory over the Jacobite army of James II at the Boyne River in Ireland.

So, while there is peace at the moment, always fomenting below the surface is the distrust and rejection of the religion of the other side. The government is run by a coalition of Protestants and Roman Catholics. But both sides express unhappiness that they have to share power with hoodlums and criminals of the opposition. When you ask the man on the street if the peace with hold they reply, “I hope so.” There exists a stability that is uncertain and uneasy. It is a peace that passes understanding.

But, more astounding for me was the opportunity to worship God in Belfast on a. Sunday in a Reformed Presbyterian Church that has been in existence at the same location for 150 years. A church where the roof was blown off by an IRA bomb blast in the 1990s! The congregation went on worshipping in their building without a roof until it could be replaced. What a rich experience to worship with Covenanters who have stood for what they believed in a hostile environment for all these years. To hear the Psalms sung without accompaniment, RPC fashion, in Gaelic tones and accents is a rare treat. And, the pastor preached on Phil 4:6: “be anxious about no thing.” This message preached in a city that displays anxiousness aplenty.

Not many years ago, there was doubt that peace, even the fragile peace of today, would come to Northern Ireland. We should take heart at what has happened there. While the political parties in No. Ireland surely remain sectarian, I seems for the present they recognize that the government must provide peaceful existence for both Roman Catholic and Protestant alike. One can more fully appreciate the concept of separation of church and state. Paul instructs Timothy that prayer must be offered on behalf of kings and those in high places “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” [1 Tim 2:2].

So, we must pray for the governing authorities in No. Ireland. May they provide the peace and quiet that permits folks to worship God…be they Protestant or Catholic. Pray for the maintenance of a peace that will allow a godly and dignified life to be lived by all. It may take generations for the flags and painted murals to disappear and the fences to come down. But, by the Grace of God this will finally occur and the battle for the hearts and minds of the people will be fought with weapons of truth and life and not weapons of death.