An Ounce - For Your Consideration

Here is a story about an aging King with no Heir - and how chose a successor to his throne.

It is a tale I heard when I was very young. I don’t know its origins or who the author is – if you do let me know.

The great Domain of the respected king was at peace and thriving. But, the King had no heir. And, he was beginning to consider how his kingdom would fair when he was gone. He loved his people, and, he wanted them to continue in peace and plenty after he passed. But, with no child, there was no one to teach, train, and prepare to lead.

The people also began to wonder and question the future. The king’s counselors began to carefully make suggestions. The rich and the powerful, the movers and the shakers imagined themselves taking his place and attempted to gain favor with the king. 

The wise king declared an event would take place. Those who traveled from the capital city to the King's public gardens the best would be declared his heir.

However, no one knew how those who would make this little excursion would be judged – And, The King wasn’t talking.

It was late August in the summer of 1978 in the desert southwest. 

Late August was when the alfalfa was coming in for its last cuttings before the growing season ended. And, hauling and stacking that hay for the winter was a great opportunity for a young person to make a few bucks – the hard way

The hay would be cut, raked into lines in the fields, and dried by the sun for a few days. Then dried vegetation was compressed into bales, as feed for the farm animals. The dimensions varied, but generally, a bale was rectangular - about 3 ½ feet long, 12 inches tall, and about 18 inches wide – and held tightly together by wire or thin twine rope. 

Their wight – well that varied too. Every farmer had his own idea – Unfortunately most of the time I hired myself out who like to pack them tight and heavy - 100 to 120 lbs. each – efficiency – compacted more to take up less space in the barnyard. And, when your talking thousands of bails – space mattered more than weight.

During one of my stints hauling hay, I was privileged to be able to perform Tractor Ballet. I was lucky I lived through it. Allow me to share the story with you.

I’m Jim Fugate and it is my privilege to share An Ounce with you.

We’ve got a great story about a true American hero  - but we're going to leave you guessing as to who it is – or maybe you can figure out who it is before I tell you.

Nate was a great guy. He was a loyal, hardworking, and principled man with courage and integrity.

He was born into a well-pedigreed family in Coventry, Connecticut, 1775 to his mother Elizabeth and his father, Richard - a deacon in the church.

At the tender age of 14, Nate was sent by his 16-year-old brother Enoch, to Yale University.

But, this brilliant and principled young man got himself in too he wasn't prepared for, and it cost him his life. 

When you are looking to get a job done, you’re not always going to be looking for the best person – you may need to be looking for the right person.

There are a few different versions of this story, but as best we can reconstruct the events, it went something like this.

It was the summer of 1937 when 17-year-old, High School Student, Bette Cooper left her Hackett’s Town New Jersey home to have a day of fun with friends at Bertrand Island Amusement Park.

Amongst all of the activity and other attractions, Bette and her friends were amused to see a beauty contest advertised, happening that day, and the organizers were still recruiting participants. 

Bette, looking for something to do with the day decided, ‘why not – should be fun’. And, on a whim, she entered the contest.

Though completely unfamiliar with the beauty pageant scene Bette surprised everyone, including herself, by winning the competition. 

Well, the whole thing was ‘just for laughs’, and she hadn’t taken the competition seriously. Bette had no idea what she had gotten herself into. 

To her shock, beyond bragging rights (and the challenge of having to confess to her parents what she’d been up to because it was going to be in the newspapers), she had also committed herself to move up to the next level of competition. In Atlantic City. At the Miss America contest.

What happens next is a little hard to believe.

Albert Einstein was reported to have said, “It’s important to make things a simple as possible, but never simpler”.

I suppose it may have been important to share this advice with Napoleon during the planning for his retreat from Leipzig on October 19, 1813.

While Napoleonian was battling with Russia his army ran into some issues while trying to advance beyond the town of Leipzig. Well, I guess more accurately stated -the battle in Leipzig had been going on for 4 days and Napoleon and his allies were having trouble moving forward. They were in fact taking serious losses, and it appeared to be an untenable situation. 

So, a brilliant plan to pull back out of Leipzig and preserve his army was devised.

The plan was discussed, detailed assignments were given, and everyone went to do their part. Unfortunately, not everyone knew what their part was - exactly - and it went downhill from there.

Ice Cream is one of those treats that is nearly irresistible. It comes in a huge variety of flavors, one of which is probably yours. But even the smooth, creamy satisfying nature of simple vanilla ice cream has been the perfect companion to a birthday cake for a century or more. Ice cream has the power to brighten an already sunny day and has been effective when liberally used as an antidepressant on the dark ones.

Did you know that the ‘cool smooth power’ of Ice Cream is so mighty that without even trying it became one of the greatest influences in the ending of the cold war?

Never underestimate the power of a pudding pop. 

Ice cream has the power to calm a troubled heart, minimize the pain of a scraped knee, and open eyes and minds to new ways of thinking.

Ice cream is not the only pocket-sized thing that can have such power. Sometimes power can be wielded in just a little respect, a smile, a kindness, a small detail that changes everything. 

Time and again it really is the ‘little’ things that have proven to make the ‘big’ difference.

Let’s start with this question - Does anything really ever disappear?

That which we cast away, or try to hold onto, is never really hidden. In one way or another, it impacts everything around us, and it trails behind us as we move through life.

But, gratefully, what remains is not always a bad thing. And, we have the power to decide if much of what we cast off is positive or negative.

Our relationships, the things we communicate, or just put out there to anyone who is listening. 

Our Ideas, our smiles, our anger, our love, our hate - It all remains. 

But, it often changes into something else 

This episode is a bit of a nod to those who have had to work a night shift. Those who have performed some vital task attended to some critical detail, that could not wait for the dawning of the sun.

Stan was born on September 7, 1939, near Vladivostok, Russia. His mother was a nurse during world war II and his father a fighter pilot. Surviving in Vladivostok during world war II is quite an achievement, even for an adult, let alone for a young child. So, Stan grew up hard. And, you've probably never heard of him.

Early in the morning of September 26th, 1983., Stan saved the whole world (this is not an understatement).

He was praised for his wise – and correct – decision, but within the week he was reprimanded for not recording the incident in the logbook. 

The New Year is a great time to start anew. To add fresh and positive things to your life. The get a new start on acquiring something or achieving something you really want for yourself.

Well, I hate to throw a cold bucket on the moment, but Forbes magazine did a study on New Years Resolutions recently. They found that only 25% of people were still working on their resolution after 30 days. And, only 8% of people are able to achieve their resolution.

Why is that?

How come we can have such good and positive intentions to start, and in less than a month there’s a better than 1 in 10 chance we’ll fail. And, probably end up feeling pretty rotten about it.

But, maybe instead of focusing on adding something new – ‘Resolving’ to grow, do, and be more – we need to ‘dissolve’ something to make way for improvement and growth.

About 2 centuries ago a baby was born in Bethlehem, of Judea. At the time Bethlehem was an isolated society that had fallen from an unparalleled greatness hundreds of years before, to a completely conquered backwater.

His name is Jesus Christ. And, there is so much that can be said of him. But His message and gift are the most powerful of all, and only effectively given -or accepted - quietly, humbly, and peacefully – never by force.

He caused great upheaval by encouraging people to be kind and loving. By inviting them to change their ways, to be humble, forgiving, and good.

This message was incredibly threatening to the existing power structure.  And, as everything else failed, they charged him with false crimes, paid one of his closest associates to betray him, and then condemned him to death.

He and His message remain.