Are We Too Blind To See?

During the years that followed World War II, a young talent, Jim Reeves, emerged from a small radio station in Henderson, TX, where he was working as a disc jockey. Singing along with the tunes as he spun the records, he picked up the name of “Gentleman Jim” and soon was propelled to the top of the charts, as a vocalist, before he experienced a fatal crash while flying his own plane over the mountains of Tennessee on July 31, 1964.

The second line of one of his biggest hits, Am I Losing You? begs the question, “Am I too blind to see?” Here we go! As our nation approaches its 241st birthday, are we too blind to see what is going on around us?

We attend events with people we hate and for whom we hold a prejudicial dislike, but mask it to gain favor (or money);

We repeat doctrines and creeds in religious services which are as habitual (and less inspiring) than the song we sing during the seventh inning stretch;

We pray for things that are beyond personal achievability;

We fail to see that abuse of the Second Amendment will lead to abolishment;

We purchase books we never read;

We listen to music we can’t understand;

We live in a period where the majority of our citizens have no clue who Churchill, JFK, Gandhi and FDR were;

We tolerate elected officials that tell enough lies to grow Pinocchio’s nose halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge (and back, since they make no charge for a return trip);

We are part of a culture that thinks the Mona Lisa is a stripper club in Las Vegas;

We can purchase guns and ammunition easier than a Snickers Bar;

We recognize that most elected officials are on the take, but voters are helpless to do anything about it;

We fall asleep amid sermons, which we criticize for being too long;

We have divest our currency of its intrinsic value;

We are raising a generation who feels the “F” word and the “N” word are, disgustingly, as common as mashed potatoes and gravy (which are, almost, equally as bad);

We talk about the good old days, but who among us wants to go back to coal furnaces, diphtheria, polio, chains on tires, and aching feet and tired backs?

We are puncturing our bodies with more needle holes that a dart board in an English pub;

We are praying to an omnipotent power, not knowing the difference among Hinduism, Muslimism, Judaism, and Christianity. How can billions of people be wrong?

We rush our dead off to crematories with little or no respect, and minimal thought put into a follow-up memorial service, other than singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Passing off some generic remarks then breaking out the booze;

We are graduating students who lack the ability to properly shake hands, introduce someone, eat with a knife and fork, return calls, send a thank you note, remove their hats in a restaurant, tie a necktie, change a flat tire, or polish shoes;

We are hypnotized by our iPhones, tablets, and computers. Hand-written letters have become a forgotten art.

Am I losing you?

-Frank C. Dawson, President
Lou Holtz Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame
East Liverpool OH