Author: Mack Ames

Mar 2Filled or Stilled

Some days are filled with obvious meaning
while other days seem void of life itself.
The Maker has promised to fulfill, and I trust him.
Even if all I do is stand still.

Where YOU Are Apr 1

Where You Are

Where you are it may be spring
With all its greening, blooms, and beauty.

Where you are it may be spring
But winter clings with snow, brown grass, gray trees.

Where you are it may be fall
Brilliant hues of red, orange, yellow leaves.

Where you are it may be stressful
News, work, and life awry.

Where you are it may be calm
Despite it all, grounded in peace.

We each respond to where we are
According to what we believe

About the ultimate meaning of life
And about Who holds the key.

Blocks

What’s a block to you?

Is it a distance that measures street to street in a city?
Or is it a cube of wood used as a toy?
Perhaps a chunk of material, no discernible or particular shape,
Or defense in sport to prevent offense to move.
It could be housing for the incarcerated, a portion of time,
A section of cheese, or lack of writing ideas.
Half an insult, maybe, paired with head?
Part of an engine, working or dead.
Noun, verb, or adjective, the grammarian in me
Asks today what “block” is to thee.

I turned 49 yesterday, so that means that my fiftieth year on this earth has begun. What will I accomplish in my half-century year?

It is easy to become lost in the memories created over the last forty-nine years of my life; it is a journey I often tread, alone and with others. But that is not where I want to dwell today. I want to consider what opportunities lie before me in this half-century journey year.

A young man named Caleb is adrift. He was my student a year ago, and was making positive progress toward graduating from high school and choosing better paths in life. Even after he left my program, he followed those paths for a time, but the negative influences in his life returned and overwhelmed the positive ones, and his progress was stunted once again. Given the legal requirements of my work, I’ve waited the requisite time before reconnecting with him, and now that we’re in touch again, I want to see how the Lord might use me to bring Caleb ashore. If you’re the praying kind, I’d appreciate your help in that way.

I woke up a day or two ago with these thoughts on my mind, and initially they were directed to you, dear Lydia. However, as the morning progressed, I realized that they apply to so many people in my life that it would have to be an open letter, as it were, rather than one shared only with you. Still, I’m not much good if I don’t have a theme to guide me, so I titled this, “Dear Lydia.” Please bear with me.

Dear Lydia (& Other Dear Ones),

As I ponder the circumstances of your senior year coming to a close in such an unusual way from what you had anticipated, I’ve spent many hours contemplating the emotions and thoughts that must be coursing through your heart and mind. Even so, I can’t help but contemplate the many other vagaries of life that have entered your world in the last year. Your sister’s unexpected move out of state, your grandmother’s passing into glory, and now, this global panic over a deadly virus that has all public gathering places closed until further notice.

What excitement we shared last October when our relatives visited from Wisconsin! Watching you compete in a cross-country race, enjoying lunch in Belfast, and playing whiffle ball at the park in Bangor–so much fun! The everyday nature of life steamed ahead. You applied for college, traveled to compete for a scholarship, went to your cousin’s wedding–and then it all screeched to a halt.

COVID-19, the coronavirus, has brought about so-called “unprecedented” lifestyle changes in America. Colleges and schools are closed, with teachers providing learning materials for students to complete at home, or they’re teaching classes online. Graduation ceremonies have been canceled. Only essential businesses remain open, those which provide for material or emergency needs. In three weeks’ time, the world’s strongest economy with only 3.4% unemployment, has seen 18 million people lose their jobs because of COVID-19. Social distancing has becoming the catch phrase of the year, used to indicate the need to keep a certain amount of space between persons to avoid spreading the disease. Another word, one that used to be used primarily in prisons and jails but has found its way into the American lexicon in recent years due to mass shootings, now applies to the entire country: We are in lockdown.

Dear One, you might be tempted to feel as though your world has been turned on its head, and I must admit that I’d be tempted right along with you, but we mustn’t. I’ve a number of reasons why (and yes, I plan to share them with you).

This situation is not unprecedented. Deadly diseases have shut down our country before. In the late 1800s, smallpox killed many and disrupted social and economic interactions. I have a radio talk show I enjoy on my drives home from work, and I often agree with the host, but last week I wanted to reach through the speakers to set him straight about something: President Woodrow Wilson didn’t shut down America during the Spanish Flu outbreak, but he should have, at least in part. Wilson’s willingness to censor the citizenry from the knowledge that public gatherings were a primary means of spreading the deadly outbreak certainly caused greater harm than good. Eventually, Wilson caught the flu and nearly died from it. Also, in the 1930s through the 1950s, polio often caused communities to shut down, creating ghost-town-like atmospheres not unlike what have been observed during the COVID-19 crisis. Lastly, other pandemics have occurred in history that have crippled trade and societies. This is precedented, even though we are not accustomed to it.

What has been disrupted? Our expectations! On what are our expectations based? Previous experience of others and the idea that we should receive similar treatment? This is something that makes me pause. A lot. Because it makes me wonder if I’m expecting…no, that’s not the word for it…it makes me wonder if I think I deserve something to be a certain way. But what do I know about what I deserve?

I’m going to leave that there for a moment, because you’re smart, and I think you can get the drift of where I’m going. I’ll get there either way, but think on it. A pastor I knew several years ago told me once that one of the major reasons that people have conflict comes from “unmet expectations.” He said that when communication breaks down, expectations don’t get expressed, and then they go unmet. Conflict arises, and it doesn’t get repaired until they go back to the root of failed communication and see where their expectations of each other weren’t met.

I can only imagine that you might have unmet expectations regarding the end of your senior year. However, if you do, I urge you to consider this: In this life, you, as a child of the King, are promised that He is with you, that He is sufficient for all your needs, and that He knows the plans He has for you, to prosper you and not to harm you. Nothing can separate you from His love in Christ Jesus our Lord. You are promised suffering and trials for the sake of Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, you can consider all this world’s gain as loss for the sake of the glory of God. Has God failed you? Has God not lived up to your expectations?

We deserve condemnation, but God has given us mercy. In His mercy, He has given us His Son, who has conquered death–He is risen! Alleluia!–will He not also graciously give us all else we need for life and godliness by His Spirit?

So, what does COVID-19 have on us? Fear? “Perfect love casts out fear.” We take the necessary precautions, of course, but has this disease stolen Christ from us? NO! Romans 8 tells us that clearly. This condition is difficult. The storm here in Maine this week was difficult. Losing power has been difficult. Dealing with downed trees has been difficult. Not congregating with fellow believers and friends has been difficult. Not being allowed to see family has been difficult. The Quarantine has been difficult. There is no question about that! But Dear Christian Siblings, it is time that we stop bemoaning the loss of this world’s comforts and trappings, and start rejoicing in our Savior. This world needs to see that He is worth knowing, especially in a time such as this.

I know someone has written a song already called, “In my room.” I’ve no idea what prompted him to write it, but I often consider my own room and how I’d pen my song, if ever I were to do such a thing. I’m no lyricist, for one thing, and tunes are nowhere to be found in my head in any original form, for another thing, but perhaps those matters could be worked out later. Like any editor worth his salt, I’ll leave the pruning to someone else.

Boy, that didn’t make any sense at all. 

In my room there’s a double sink. It used to be the culinary classroom. Then it was the GED and mountaineering room. The east wall is covered by a mural of the North Woods gone wild. It begins in melancholy and ends on steroids. Fugly is too kind a word for it. Like gazing on a train wreck, I can’t bear the thought of having it painted over for off-white blankness. 

The west wall is windows, which I’ve smothered with pictures and memes. Bad Dad Jokes galore, interspersed with landscapes of Japan and old calendar pages. Giant posters fill panes on each end of the wall; I pretend they’re there legitimately to advertise my educational programs, while everyone knows I’m just hiding from the world. 

To the north are my whiteboard and green bulletin board. The latter has a timeline of American economic history and a homemade poster of the Four Sentence Structures attached to it, and an enormous map of the USA propped against it. Tables shoved to the wall below are covered with laptops and their charge cords, much like the ones under the hideous mural on the Eastern Front. 

The Southern Side possesses the sink, above which are bookshelves. It’s the only part of the room that actually resembles a classroom, except for the plumbing. The shelves are stuffed with encyclopedias and textbooks that typically collect dust and little use. 

My desk is under the windows, along the Western Bank, with a workstation that faces the east wall and the student areas. The physical design is secondary to the tasks at hand, of course, but contribute to the daily work of teaching and learning. In my room, day in and day out, I deal with the inquisitive and the dull, the smart and the stupid, the ambitious and the lazy. I see men that toil with limited means and others that spoil ample brains; men that sponge up every learning opportunity, and others that scoff at the chances they’re given, too stupid to know how stupid they are. There are men always willing to talk, and there are others willing to shut up and learn. 

Which will you be? Which will I be, in my room? 

I’m essential this time around. Usually, teachers for the department of corrections get lumped in with office associates and all the rest of non-essentials for snow day cancellations and the like, but for COVID-19 it’s “all hands on deck.” Since all the schools are shut down, if any CO’s (guards) have to stay home to take care of their kids, teachers, caseworkers, or other employees that used to be CO’s will be the first to be reassigned to CO positions. Then, as needed, the rest of us can expect to fill in for kitchen, cleaning crew, warehouse, boiler room, or other staffing needs. IF we get to that point, we’ll leave our 8-hour, 5-day-a-week schedules for 12-hours 3 and 4 days per week.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m thrilled to have a job and be considered essential, but I really don’t want to stop teaching, nor do I want to end up on 12s instead of 8s. Frankly, I’m not sure my back could take it. But if the situation calls for it, I’ll do my best to do my duty, and I’ll be thankful to have a job.

In God’s good providence, I’m employed well and paid well. No complaints! Thank you, Lord.

Having lived most of my life in the great state of Maine, I know what real snow looks like. I know what fake snow looks like, too, as portrayed on TV and in the movies. And I sure as heck know what spray-on snow is. Hollywood and Wall Street have done their best to make America think that the world is glamour and glitter, but the real beats the fake every time.

It’s mid-March in Maine, so winter is “supposed to be” on its way out. As with all northern states, we understand that “supposed to be” ain’t reality, and we don’t put the snow shovels away until the end of April, at the earliest. Four days ago, we had sunshine and temps in the high 40s; it felt like summer. The next day started with rain, switched to snow, transitioned to sleet, moved back to rain, and ended with a little sunshine. Yesterday, we had sunshine and temps in the 40s again. Today, it’s overcast with a chance of showers. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be in the high 50s, followed by two days in the 30s. Yeah, when March comes we buckle up and hang on for dear life.

That snow we had two days ago, though, that turned to rain in my neck of the woods stayed rain where I work. As I drove the last ten miles into the higher elevations yesterday, the shockingly white blanket that covered the landscape stood in stark contrast to the post-winter browns awaiting the arrival of spring in the low country. Adding to my surprise was the observation that the snow appeared to have been sprayed on. The southeastern side of every surface was plastered with snow, from the ground to its top–trees, houses, barns, cars, tractors, signs–everything. A movie producer couldn’t have done it better. It put a silly grin on my face as I traveled up the final hill to the facility, and I shook my head in wonder.

People like to say, “the devil’s in the details” when talking about the ramifications of fine print or unintended consequences of contracts or other agreements. What I observed the other day, though, was God in the details. And just days before that, Pastor Russell Hamilton commented on the omniscience and omnipotence of God regarding our lives, right down to particular needs of each one of us. Each of us relies on God for every single breath that we breathe whether we acknowledge it or not, and if he gives us that, then surely he can be counted on to work out all the other details, too!

He gave me that reminder with “spray-on snow” that HE sprayed on. His version is the real deal. HE is the real deal. I can provide nothing for myself without the breath in my body that God provides first. That alone should make me bow down and worship him with all I am and all I have, as Pastor Hamilton said in his sermon. The Lord spoke through that sermon, and then reminded me again with that spray-on snow. We are his sheep, the people of his pasture. Do we listen and follow him today?

As a student of history, correlations between current and past events intrigue me. One hundred-one years ago, the world grappled with an unknown virus that spread like wildfire and killed, by many estimates, 100 million people in about eighteen months’ time. Now the world is facing another disruptive virus that, thanks to modern access to social media and the broadcast media’s willingness to inflame the situation, is creating panic not seen since 1919.

Influenza A was the official name of the 1919 flu, though it is commonly called “the Spanish flu.” When it first became a problem was in 1918, as America was gathering men from across the nation to send them to boot camp and then to Europe to fight in World War I. According to historians John M. Barry and Kenneth C. Davis, the so-called Spanish flu actually originated here in the United States, on the cantonments where American soldiers were being trained for war. In close quarters, the city boys and farm boys brought all their own particular bacterias with them, as well as their respective abilities or disabilities to fight one another’s contributions to health challenges, and what sprung up was Influenza A.

It spread between Fort Devens in Massachusetts and Fort Riley in Kansas as soldiers were transferred back and forth for training and deployment. The sickness erupted rapidly, and death soon followed. Modern medicine, such as it was, knew nothing of viral diseases. World-renowned doctors researched to find treatments or a cure. Nothing worked. America’s top physicians warned the President, Woodrow Wilson, that gatherings of people in large groups would spread the disease and cause massive outbreaks in the general population, but the President, in collusion with the media, kept the news quiet. Liberty Funds parades were needed to help pay for the war effort, and the President determined that that was more important than public health. Ultimately, he learned otherwise, but not until the flu had gripped every corner of America.

Due to the media censorship in the United States and throughout much of Europe, the world did not learn about Influenza A until it hit Spain. Spain, which was neutral during World War I because of recently concluding a civil war and not needing to be involved in the world’s issues, did not censor its media. Since that is where word of this disease first entered the general public’s knowledge, that is why it became known as the Spanish flu. It rightly should have been named the “Kansas flu.”

By the time the war ended, the tens of millions of war deaths were being outpaced by Influenza A deaths. The flu continued its rampage to the end of 1919, by which time treatments had been found, and preventive measures had been taken to reduce its impact. One can argue to pros and cons of the media censorship or its cooperation with the American President to minimize the public’s knowledge of the flu, but there is no doubt that societies learned many valuable lessons from the experience. Medical science made great strides during the time, and it has not looked back, except to review procedure and process for improvements in the present and future.

In 2019, some students of history looked back at the 1919 flu and considered it thoughtfully. We wondered what would happen if something like that came along again, but then we realized that it has already come along again. In 2003, SARS was a pandemic like the 1919 flu. H1N1 and H5N1, the bird and swine flus, have been pandemics. In those cases, the media has acted differently than it did in 1919, and so has the President of each time. Death rates have not come close to 1919, but since Americans look to their government for information and for protection, it merits consideration.

Here in 2020, America had high hopes. In the state of Maine, we are celebrating our bicentennial. In fact, that is today, March 15. (Happy 200th, Maine.) The year is supposed to have a presidential election between a Republican incumbent and a Democrat challenger . The economy has been booming for the last three years. The incumbent recently beat an impeachment attempt by the Democrat Party, and it doesn’t seem to have hurt his re-election chances. Many of the incumbent’s party believe that the media have been in the back pocket of the Democrat Party since his election in 2016, so they see the current pandemic coverage in the media as further proof of collusion between the two trying to end his presidency.

COVID-19, also known as the Wuhan Coronavirus, began late in 2019 but only became known around the world in early 2020. Because of the secrecy practiced by the Communist Chinese government, it took the bravery of ten Chinese doctors to reveal to the world the knowledge of this rapidly spreading deadly strain of flu. The American government already knew about the situation before the media picked it up, and the President had taken steps to restrict travel to and from China to minimize contamination. It went unnoticed because he did so in the middle of the impeachment furor. By the time Congress took note, the Democrat leadership found reason to criticize his move as unnecessary; they changed their tune as time passed but did not apologize for their earlier comments.

Since the American media got hold of the COVID-19 story, they’ve held nothing back, hyping every possible panic element and emphasizing all the dangers of the disease in the extreme. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have held regular briefings for the public to inform citizens of steps to curb the spread of the disease, methods of treatment, and so on. The government has not censored the media as President Wilson did 101 years ago. If anything, the easy access to information in 2020 fosters dissemination of misinformation in addition to the truth, and John & Jane Q Public must be more discerning than ever to know good from bad.

Looking back to 1919, 20/20 vision tells us so much about what should or should not have been done to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Of course, it’s easy to do that from the bird’s eye view. What will 2120 say of 2020, COVID-19, and President Trump? I won’t be around to know, but maybe someone will look at 2020 with 20/20 vision.

Among the happier moments of my workdays are when I’m seeing students be productive in their learning. Truly, even former students visiting the classroom and showing interest in learning something new brings warmth to my heart. That happened today.

Two young men that graduated from my HiSET program last year were in the library, the room next door to mine, first thing this morning. Neither one had a class in there, so I invited them into my room to see the 101-year old laminated newspapers a colleague has loaned to me. They were fascinated by the samples I had, so they decided to spend the morning in my classroom. After reading through the half-dozen or so papers available, they found the challenging pyramid puzzles I have and began working on the solutions. Meanwhile, my regular students came and went as usual.

I was excited to demonstrate some new learning techniques for two of my students today, and the tablets that they have available in their housing units will give them added opportunities to practice what they do in class. From ESL to ELA, the technology and direct instruction in the classroom is changing how we offer education in the Department of Corrections!

Another student submitted his first practice essay in preparation for the HiSET (GED) writing exam. It was a good first attempt. Then I showed him a series of videos from Tennessee Adult Education about how to prepare for the essay exam. He took good notes and left class with another writing assignment. When he has completed one or two more take-home essays, I’ll test his ability to write while in the classroom.

The puzzlers are still at it. They’ve each solved their own pyramids, and one has taken on the other’s tower. He was very critical of the first fellow’s time (about 90 minutes) for completing the tower, so we’re watching to see if he can complete it faster. It’s moving 8 wooden rings one at a time, never putting a larger one on top of a smaller one, from one post to a third post, using the middle post as needed, until the entire stack has been moved.

I think he’s going to beat the first fellow’s time, tbh. Yup, he’s nearly done; 15 minutes.