INSIGNIFICANT

We all jump out of bed every morning and head out to force our agendas on the world. We neglect our health and the relationships with friends and family because somehow we just know that the tasks set before us each day are more important than anything else. The "tyranny of the urgent" rules our lives. Being the son of a funeral director, I have always known that everyone will one day die and (unless you are cremated) you will be put in a casket and there will probably be a visitation by family and friends (which you neglected because of your important agenda) and as folks pass by your coffin, sooner or later, these three statements will be heard: 1) "He sure does look natural." 2) "I have never seen him look better." and 3) "He looks like he could just sit up and start talking!"

Don't get me wrong, there is certainly nothing wrong with having a purpose in life. Human beings can accomplish great things which often make life better for others long after their death. As a friend once told me, "There is nothing wrong with planting a tree whose shade you will never enjoy"! But, if everyone is running around wildly with their agendas, surely some of the agendas will clash. Just look around at the world situation today; personal agendas are clashing everywhere.

Let me just say a few things about how INSIGNIFICANT we really are. Hang in here with me for a few moments. Let's start by looking at a few facts of astronomy:

A "light year" is a measure of distance. If an object could travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) for 1 year; the distance covered is one "light year". Do the math yourself: 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 52 weeks in a year and so on! That's a lot of distance! Get the picture?

We live in the galaxy called the Milky Way and our solar system is situated well away from the center of our galaxy; about 30,000 light years from the galactic center to be somewhat exact. The body of our galaxy is shaped like a great disc (pancake) 300 light years thick and 100,000 light years across. Ours is a spiral galaxy and the Sun is about two-thirds of the way out from the center along one of several spiral arms. We HUMANS like to think that we are important; but in the vastness of the Milky Way, our earth is like a grain of sand on the beach and the Milky Way is only one of millions of galaxies whirling through space. The galactic corona, an enormous outer halo which is now believed to contain most of the mass of the galaxy, may extend as far as 300,000 light years in radius. Remember that two times the radius is the diameter. So if we measure the diameter by the galactic corona, then the Milky Way is 600,000 light years across. Once again! If we have an object traveling at 186,000 miles per second for 600,000 years, that distance would be the diameter of the Milky Way and THERE ARE MILLIONS OF OTHER GALAXIES! What was your agenda again?

In 1970, I was a freshman at the University of Georgia trying to figure out what I would be when I grew up. In the meantime, I decided to be a science major (eventually becoming a pharmacist) and found that I was spending an inordinate amount of time involved with labs. One of the first things any science major learns is the FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS. Of course, I had learned this in high school, but we had to "learn" it again anyway. It goes like this:

Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. Energy is always conserved; it cannot be created or destroyed.

Now that I had this "truth" placed in my mind, I went to an astronomy (not astrology) class and heard the professor say, "Fifteen billion years ago, the universe exploded into existence." Of course, one should not doubt this because it was taught in college and I had to state this stuff back on tests in order to pass, but even as a young man, my mind was churning thoughts like, "If matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed but 15 billion years ago the universe exploded into existence, then something doesn't add up here!"

Here's a truth for you that you will not hear often: IF THERE WERE EVER A TIME WHEN THERE WAS NOTHING, THERE WOULD STILL BE NOTHING!

So where did our Milky Way galaxy, our universe and all of the other millions of universes originate if energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed? You don't get something from nothing (even my grandmother knew this)!

This is why there are people who believe in God! Not those who have created a god they can control and manipulate, but those who are struck dumb with wonder at His Majesty. It is not illogical! Christianity is not about whether or not Jesus loves homosexuals! It is about God's becoming one of us and dwelling among us full of grace and truth. The Word made flesh! The only God we got to see was Christ and the truth of his life has been captured not only by the Scripture but by non-Christian historians as well (Josephus e.g.). Christ was a real person who lived and breathed just as we but at the same time He was fully God also (the hypostatic union: fully man but fully God). He was sent not to do a random act of kindness, but to propitiate the wrath of God against sinful man on behalf of His people (not everybody). His finished work was totally effective for the elect; those who are called out of the world through the gospel (the power of God unto salvation)!

In light of our insignificance in the overall scheme of things and the futility of our "purpose driven agendas", I am reminded of what the Psalmist stated:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him? Psalm 8:3-4

George Goddard

To All Men Who Watch The Food Network

Giada De Laurentis
I have been watching this beautiful lady on television for a couple of years! I had no idea that this was a COOKING show! Men everywhere should be more observant!

Koizumi Can't Help Falling In Love With Elvis

A couple of weeks ago, the citizens of the United States witnessed one of the most profound events of world history! Students for years to come will most certainly be reading of this event that will surely change the way all wars are viewed. You know damn well about that which I speak! The Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, while visiting America and George Bush, fulfilled his life-long dream to visit Graceland. We have pictures to prove it. He even sang a verse of "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" for the press, Lisa Marie and Priscilla. Even though his voice sounds like fingernails on a blackboard, he was undaunted. He put on a pair of sunglasses and did the Elvis "moves" ( quite well I might add)! As I watched this, I couldn't help but wonder what my father would say if he saw this!

My father (Big Ed) drove landing crafts during the invasion of Okinawa and had a front row seat in the South Pacific for part of WWII. I wondered how Big Ed would have responded to the Prime Minister of Japan doing Elvis gyrations while his graying mane bounced freely in Graceland. In Okinawa over 200,000 died! Iwo Jima lasted 36 days and there were 25,851 casualties ( 1 in 3 killed or wounded). 6825 American boys killed and 22,000 Japanese. At Tarawa in 1943 the US Marines suffered nearly 3000 casualties. The toll was even higher for the Japanese. Of the 4700 defenders, only 17 survived. The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed 150,000 and the bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 140,000. What most people don't realize is that the atomic bombs didn't kill nearly as many as the napalm pounding Japan got before the "big bombs" were dropped. At Pearl Harbor there were 2117 navy and marine deaths, 228 army deaths and 57 civilians. These statistics are only a fraction of the total and these numbers do not even begin to reflect the hatred these two countries had for each other. History has not given us any reason that George Bush and Junichiro Koizumi would even speak to each other, much less go frolicking together through Graceland.

That's where Elvis comes in! What would The Greatest Generation have thought if they had known that about 10 years after the war, a young, wavy-haired, hip-gyrating, guitar strumming, rock and roll singer would rise up out of Tupelo, Mississippi and that his life would be the opiate that soothes the painful memories of war. Look at this picture and think about what this image forces us to see: either war is very stupid or Elvis is really good. I'm talkin' REAL GOOD!

If the "rock and roll" of Elvis was the catalyst for change after WWII; maybe "rap" will be the modern day equivalent. 50 years from now the Taliban Prime Minister could be visiting the President of the US and get a tour of the homes of Ludacris and Fitty Cent (national landmarks by then). The state-run press could report on all the excitement as the Prime Minister and the President toured the President's "crib". The Taliban Prime Minister could "bust-a-move" and lay down a little "rap"for the HDTV cameras!

Look at this picture again and think about what this represents. I have been to 3 world fairs and 2 goat ropings, but I ain't never seen anything like that.

Is this a crazy world or what?

Obituary

Ray A. Nichols, 84, of Bryson City died Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville. I copied this straight out of The Smoky Mountain Times - Thursday, June 22, 2006. It also lists his wife of 59 years, Mary Evelyn, as a survivor.

I first met Ray Nichols while eating Sunday lunch at the Hemlock Inn a couple of years ago. I saw my friends, Dr. Rudy Shirley and his wife, Joann, sitting at the table with a couple of folks whom I would soon discover were Ray and Mary Nichols. Dr. Rudy and Ray struck up a conversation that would still be taking place if their respective wives hadn't forced them to separate. I just shook their hands, said hello and introduced myself as a newcomer to Bryson City. Later, my wife and I would run into them at various places all over town and our friendship blossomed. It was never difficult to get Ray involved in a conversation. We swapped phone numbers and exchanged the hopes for future dinner invitations. We made plans to play golf, plans to come sit on the Nichols' porch and chat, plans to have Ray and Mary come to our mountain house and general plans to spend more time together. But, like the Psalmist says, "In the grave where you are going, all your plans and schemes will come to an end."

Jaye (my wife) and I came into town for the week-end and I picked up a copy of the SMT at Ingles on the way up the mountain. I was so shocked to read the sad news, especially since I had just seen Ray at Everett Street Diner 2 weeks before.

During the 4th of July festivities this year, Jaye and I recalled how on the previous year's celebration, Ray and Mary came walking through town dressed like American flags. They were quite the handsome couple and I was especially impressed with the way Ray always loved being with his wife, Mary. This year, as I was waiting in the car for my wife to return, I heard a tap on my window. Much to my surprise, there was Mary with her ususal winsom smile and her daughter, Tammy. She gave me a big hug and introduced me to her daughter. I then expressed my condolences but Mary said that Ray died the way he would have chosen. Suddenly and without suffering. Mary is pure class.

My wife and I had the rare opportunity to be welcomed as newcomers to Bryson City by this delightful couple. I will selfishly miss my new friend Ray and his smiling face and his stylish manner of dress and I will do a better job being a friend to Mary.

Thank you, Ray. You will be missed.

Somewhere in the Peace and Quiet

I have always dreamed of having a retreat. A place where I could go to get away from the daily grind. Maybe the mountains or maybe the ocean (Nah! No way with all her hurricanes and stuff). OK! The mountains then. That settles that! The problem was that I continued to dream and never actually did anything about it ... until 2004! I had no idea what I was in for so my ignorance was bliss as I set out to build a house on top of a mountain in Western North Carolina. I had become friends with a man who put a porch on my house in Kennesaw, Georgia. We had several conversations, then took our thoughts to an architect buddy and the next thing I know, we're staking off the footprint of the house. Simple!

ELECTRICITY: No problem! Not so fast. We had to dig a 900 foot-long trench through rocky soil and it had to be 4 feet deep. Duke Power told us that after the cable was placed, we would have to fill the ditch by hand because large machinery would drop rocks onto the cable and cause damage to the plastic coating. Did I mention that the 900 foot-long ditch was up an average 20-30 degree incline? In the summertime heat!

WATER: No problem! Just dig a well, right! Not so fast. We had to go 850 feet. At $11.00 per foot. And it cost $6500.00 to hook it to the house and we only got 2 gallons per minute. I learned one lesson quickly: Water is KING of the mountains!

Now that we had water and electricity, everything should be smooth sailing from here on in! Right! Not so fast again! We encountered stormy seas! I discovered that when turkey season, deer season, friday afternoon or just about anything else came up, laborers in the mountains ceased to labor. We had to bring in framers, carpenters, HVAC people, roofers and all the building materials from Atlanta. In addition, we had to give them room and board in this distant city. My dream home was turning into a nightmare! At least the big-city workers were competent and my builder had used them before and had a great relationship with them. We were able to find a great local bulldozer man, gutter man and plumber. But that's about all.

After 14 months and lots of money, we finally finished and moved in the weekend of the fourth of July, 2005. If I knew then what I know now, there would be no house, but the Lord takes care of little children and fools! Since I'm 54 years old, see if you can guess which category I'm in.

Now that it's all over, my wife and I can sit on the upper porch in our rockers and wonder out loud, "How in the world did we get this thing built?"

My experience on the mountain has verified the truthfullness of an old adage: Everybody wants to be on top of the mountain, but very few are willing to do what it takes to get there.

I have to be honest, I'm kinda' proud of myself.

The Happiest Man In America

Freelin Woodard is a friend of mine! As a matter of fact, getting to know him has caused me to realize the real reason I love being in the Western Carolina mountains, and in particular, Bryson City!

You see, I notice people and I watch their demeanor. I never really thought a great deal about my garbage - just bag it up and take it to the trash dump; but there was a gentleman there who was always willing to help and the whole while wearing a smile from ear to ear. I came to actually ENJOY taking the garbage to the dumpster. I live most of the time in a suburb of Atlanta and gathering trash there is not a plesant experience. As a matter of fact, it is quite a chore and the trash-truck driver is not a plesant person!

It is not just my opinion regarding Freelin; my wife agrees with me and I have noticed on many occasions other people lingering to visit after they unloaded their cars and trucks of their household garbage. It doesn't look or smell like a trash dump! It is spotless, and my new buddy Freelin is always standing by. I love taking friends with me to the dump to introduce them to the "happiest man in America". Where else in the whole wide world could one actually look forward to taking out the garbage?

One recent day my curiosity got the best of me, so I had to ask Freelin the question: "What in the world are you taking that keeps you so happy"? (I am a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Pharmacy, so my natural inclination was to believe that biochemistry was at work here). His answer proved me wrong.

He said, "You know, I like to keep this place clean for all my customers, but we don't close the gate at night. People come in here during the evening hours and sometimes make a big mess because they spill their garbage all over the place. I always try to come in early to clean up the place and make it look good before customers start arriving and when I first started this job it made me mad that people would leave such a mess, but I got to thinking", he continued, "whether I'm mad or happy, I still have to clean it up, so I decided that I might as well be happy. And you know, it just makes the job more fun."

Until I met Freelin, I thought the chief reason for my being here in the mountains was to get away from all the pollution and traffic congestion and to enjoy a slower pace of life while being surrounded by the majestic splendor of the mountains. These are all secondary reasons now! The reason I built a home in Bryson City is because of how this place transforms a person. Not what it is but what it does to your soul.

Most big city people wake up each morning and fight their way through traffic to get to their jobs that are slowly killing them ... myself included! They can choose to be mad or happy, but either way, they still have to go to work. Most people are not like Freelin because they choose to be angry. Bryson City has changed me! When I start to feel a little angry about something at work, I just think about my buddy Freelin and his big ole' grin. And I decide that I might as well be happy.

But everybody doesn't have a home in Bryson City! God bless Freelin Woodard!

George Goddard

(published in Smoky Mountain Times, January 12,2006, Bryson City, NC.)

Everybody's Doing It

It seems that everyone else has a blog space ... so why not me? As I ride throught NW Georgia on my regular call-cycle in my position as a senior rep in pharmaceutical sales, I encounter quite an array of ideas in conversations I have with health care providers. Since I have been in the same territory for 20 years, I have come to know some of my docs quite well and I really enjoy the time I get to spend with them. Yesterday, I had lunch with a doc who has officially "partly retired" and only comes back to the office when others are out for vacation or other reasons. Seeing him reminds me that in May of 2007, I could officially retire from my company. I really don't know where the time has gone but it sure has passed by quickly. It seems like yesterday that I began working as a sales rep, but in fact, it was 20 years ago. Being on the road so much is really taking a toll on my health! It is a fact that the towns I travel to have gotten much bigger and have traffic problems that did not exist 10 years ago. In addition, drivers have gotten much more aggressive and have no fear of driving right on your bumper. This is especially alarming considering that most of these drivers are in big-rigs heading to and fro on I-75.

If I do retire in May, I certainly won't miss the road, but I will miss my many fellow employee buddies and the conversations I have with my customers. One gets to know folks quite well in 20 years! I'm still too young to fully retire but maybe not to change careers. Thank goodness I have kept my Pharmacist's license current because that does open some doors. What to do??