Basics

There are about 42 countries on the African continent.  I have visited most of them.  Mark Twain said India is the ultimate travel destination and on my several trips to India I can certainly agree.  But, Africa is still probably the most intriguing, colorful continent; so large, so much beauty, so much poverty.  In 1985, after having done several safaris in which we slept in tents, photographed the animals in their natural habitat, I went on the ultimate safari, a gorilla safari, where you encounter gorillas in their natural environment.  I had a Dutch guide and a driver who had done this trip previously.  But they, like the Congolese government were very anxious about my safety, so in addition to a large group of pygmies I had at all times an armed soldier of the Congolese army next to me.  This certainly came in good one time when we encountered a large nest of wasps.  The soldiers and pygmies surrounded me and were the victims of the anger and stings of the wasps. 

The thing I remember most about the incident was that the pygmies learned that I was a doctor and I took some medicine out of my camera bag and put some medicine on all their stings. The guide said “this is the first time that these people have been touched by a doctor“. I had gone to a thrift store in New York before leaving for the trip, purchased a large number of colorful t-shirts and ball caps and, as the guide said, it was like Christmas to them. These people had never worn a pair of shoes, there feet looked more like animal hooves than human feet. They made my trip a delight and I filled 5 rolls of film in 5 cameras with photographs of the gorillas. 

The gorillas were some what angered on the intrusion on their privacy after we had traveled on foot for miles, but they respected the machetes of the pygmies. It was interesting to see their family activity, the fact that the oldest member of the gorilla community had gray hair and seemed to be the boss, that they have a very tight relationship within the community as families, protecting their young, etc.  So, it was enlightening to see these primates which the evolutionists still thinks are our ancestors and the pygmies (small black people) who have been completely isolated from civilization.  I had taken dry clothing knowing the wetness of the jungle. I gave my wet clothing to the military guard who was very near my size and he kept thanking me for the clothing, at the least that is what my driver who understood the language said.

I noted that the pygmies, like the gorillas, were well trained even they have never been exposed to Dr. Spock or products of Columbia’s teachers college. I’m sure God knew what he was talking about when he told human beings to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” ( Proverbs 22:6) The objective in parenting is the training of a child who, believe it or not, is born untrained. The modernist liberal psychologist believes that all children are born good and trained, they are afraid discipline will in some way affect or inhibit the child’s psyche, or artistic development.

On a trip to Boston, some years ago, a PhD friend at one of the universities there took me to a magnificent restaurant on the roof of a large hotel. He recognized a fellow professor and his wife at another table, their child being reared without discipline or training was running around the restaurant jerking things off the tables of other diners and they sat there as if pretending not to notice.  One well known professor at a local university and his wife did not believe in discipline and as everyone on the campus could report, there 2 sons were not fit to live in polite society. 

George Orwell‘s, Nineteen Eighty-Four published in 1949, novel has become famous for its portrayal of pervasive government surveillance and control, and government's increasing encroachment on the rights of the individual. It is a show-up of the perversions which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere.  The story begins on 4 April 1984: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen".

Sometimes, I don’t think people care about anything, anymore.  But a re-read of this 1949 book will show its accuracy in projecting what has happened in this country from 1984 until the present. 

The basics of Christianity are faith, hope, and love.  Faith is not faith until there is nothing left to hold on to such as Abraham when he was about to sacrifice his only son. I believe that 90% of faith is just raw courage.  Those of you who do not have faith should put some adhesive tape over your eyes and try living as a blind person for at least 1 week as many of us have done most of our lives. (I am a totally blind 100% disabled service connected veteran)  I know the truth of God’s word “we walk by faith, not by sight”.  We have heard the story of the child in the top of a burning building, the father on the ground covered with smoke saying, “jump, I’ll catch you”.  There are times in the life of a child or an adult, when it is difficult to make the decision to jump.  How can anyone live these days, or any day, without faith?

Of the theological virtues, hope is equally important. For many years, I kept putting medications in my eyes right on schedule with the hope that something would improve, that some sight would return.  Then, one day, my doctor said there is nothing inside your eyeballs anymore, the nerve, the retina, everything is gone, medication is useless.  Others, have faced that with cancer, a plane hurling toward the ground, a drug addicted child.

But, as we find in 1 Corinthians, the love chapter of the Bible, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) 

The greatest support system for anyone, young/old, rich/poor, intelligent/ignorant, is love.  I will not go into all the scriptures, the promises and prophecies, about love.  “behold what manner of love that we should be called the children of God.” ( 1 John 3:1)  No one can defend immorality, even the most pagan among us know that “God is love” and without love in the world life would be impossible.  The  most innocent of creatures with life, small animals, birds (with a brain about the size of a pinhead), even animals in the wild (I noticed on safaris in the bush the mother lion would always get between her young and any danger), the human being is the only mother that will allow the destruction of her baby.  And, still most mothers and fathers will give their lives for their children. 

Concern, is a lost word in most vocabularies. I well remember the history of our society, not very long ago, when families would take in their home parents or relatives who had lost a mate or in some other way needed a home. We now depend on government to provide this care, such as nursing homes, foster care, etc..  One lady, told me recently, she was providing foster care for 2 children, both parents were in prison.  In this one county I understand there is nearly 1,000 children in foster care.  The home is the most basic feature and future of our civilization. Faith, hope, and love, from the home, is the foundation of our republic.