[Dialogue] Him and E.B. White

[jim rippey]

I have this friend, about the same age as me, who sometimes writes stuff using a pseudonym.  Here's his latest.  Some may find it interesting.    -Jim Rippey, Bellevue, NE
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ME AND E.B WHITE,  by Les B.   --9/05

Now that I'm closing in on age 80, I've been thinking a lot about a phrase I heard maybe 30 or 35 years ago. It's by the late author, E. B. White, and it keeps nagging me:

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day." 

The dilemma is particularly haunting as one gets older. These are the "Golden Years," one is supposed to relax, reflect and enjoy. I've earned it, I tell myself. I deserve it. There is so much to savor. And it all beckons enticingly. . 

Alas, would that it were that easy. Some of us are like that proverbial firehorse. The bell rings and we feel compelled to plunge forward. And the Bell? John Donne said: "... never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." True! But it goes even beyond that.

It tolls for our children, for our grandchildren, and yes, for those still innocent, trusting great grandchildren. Will they inherit a land of freedom that is still the envy of the world? Will the Bill of Rights still protect them? Will successive generations still have more educational and economic opportunity than their parents' did? 

Will the world really be safer? Will there still be wars without end? Will thousands of poor children still die of hunger or disease every day? Will the rich continue to get richer? Will special interests tighten their control of Congress while our great grand kids struggle to pay off a bloated national debt?

Will future generations still thrill to the words of Katherine Lee Bates" hymn, "America the Beautiful?"

"O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

>From sea to shining sea!"

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Oh yes, there are particular books I want to read again, new ones to be savored, music to be enjoyed. There even is some TV worth watching. There are friends and relatives I want to visit, and walks in parks I want to take while I still can. Yes, flowers to sniff and admire. And then there are times I am tired and just want to sit in my easy chair and doze.

But meanwhile, that damn bell keeps ringing. There are still volunteer jobs I can do. I need to write more protest letters to the editor and particularly, to my Congress people. I remember another favorite E. B. White quote: "The essence of good writing is clear thinking." So... while I'm still able, I'll try to do more of that.... But it does make the day harder to plan. And I do miss that easy chair.