During the mid-1930s in Akron, Ohio I would walk through shanty town to go from one area of my paper route to another. Most of the residents were African-Americans. The people of shanty town could not afford the newspaper which cost twenty cents a week, including Sunday, or three cents for a single copy and ten cents for Sunday’s. I received one cent for a single sale and six cents for weekly customers. I felt deeply for these people, at the bottom of the culture of The Great Depression. One day there was a ruckus. I diverted my usual route to see what was happening. One of the men was about to accost another man, not a resident, for taking his watering can – by which he kept a satisfactory garden productive for his family. The interloper dropped the can and made his way, at high speed, from the point of the botched robbery.
I never lost a sense of the value of that can. It was a lard can that had held, long before, twenty five pounds of lard, a common product selling in bulk in those days. It was the most common oil used for frying foods. There were a few dents in the can, but minor wounds for a watering vessel in shantytown. It was important to the welfare of the gardener’s family. He would not part with the can without a fight, perhaps serious to someone’s health. We all have some of the motivations of the man guarding his water can. No one I knew in our community of poor neighbors would fuss over a can. But, we have our own perceptions for our needs and values, and we are willing to put ourselves out to defend that we cherish or need.
The interpretations of our lives create different worlds for us. I highly value family. Some of the persons I know give little attention to their families. I hurt for the future of the children. I value education. My step-father, a good man, thought I was wasting my time during the process. He changed his mind after I became established following years of formal education. I value my Christian faith above all other life factors, and would die for it – if I must. I am told that the studies show that many persons would be willing to die for their country, but believe it folly to die for a faith. The number of willing suicides to carry out terror during the years since the attack on New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania has given pause to persons who can’t perceive there is anything they would voluntarily die for. There have been serious discussions that end with some concluding that one’s nation has become the secular god. Whatever virtue may be found for them is in defense to the end of their lives for achieving the goals of the state of which they are a part, or that the destruction of something they hate has been accomplished with the greatest of personal sacrifice. A mystery of mankind is the desire to live long, but many willing to give up life for something cherished fully. I would be unable to kill in warfare, or in any other context except to protect my family, but I have met persons of undoubted faith and values who have been awarded medals for the number of kills they registered. One of my students had three kills in one night as a fighter pilot over Germany. Three men died from his guns. He was one of the finest fellows I ever met, an excellent student in my class. King David won the public with his prowess at killing enemies. Saul killed thousands: David tens of thousands. The only humane defense I find in all this is prayer. Answers are not in bravery or cowardice.
Somewhere in this mystery there is much to be understood about values, and our commitment to those values. The results are interesting to weigh. We believe that such a study of human life, determinations, values, even ability to activate faith in God lurks in this factor of certainty or uncertainty about the meaning of life, the future, the right and the wrong. What is good to the point of sacrifice for one person seems folly to another. What is bad for one seems good for the other. The existentialist wrestles with that paradox. God becomes a dilemma mystery of Scripture: This is the way, walk in it. If we examine the alternatives, the biblical pattern wins the exchange. The early Christians gained attention by their love and peaceful character: Behold how they love one another. God calls for unity as a basic perception to find the best that society can offer. Unity will never be found without that grace of love, of peace, of acceptance of the complexity of man, and the favor of God to righteousness. For our lives, in a nation of freedom, we can choose Christian life, alone if need be, in peace, devotion, love and service. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020