EDITORIAL

(1/1/2007)

The Fire in My Bones

Fighting for what's right isn't merely a choice, but a way of life

By Bob Ellis

Editor

2006 showed a lot of promise, but while it had its high points, it left a lot to be desired.

One of those promising developments was the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2006. One of the greatest Supreme Court disappointments, Sandra Day O'Connor, had been replaced by a man who seems to understand the difference between making law and adjudicating law.  This holds the promise of better, more constitutional decisions from our highest court, hopefully reducing the amount of oligarchic social engineering we've seen too much of in recent decades.

South Dakota's legislature also passed a historic abortion ban, and did so with a healthy, bipartisan majority.  Our hopes were that it might not only end abortion on demand in South Dakota, but could pave the way for an end to the monolithic, immoral and unconstitutional Roe v. Wade decision that forced legalized baby killing on a nation. 

Yet that promise died in November 2006 after a long, brutal battle by pro-abortionists of every stripe and a full-court press from state and national media to mislead and misconstrue the bill as some sort of mean spirited measure to oppress women.  Still, for the first time in over 30 years, the issue was out in the open, and I received many letters from people all over the world who had never heard some of the truths that came out about abortion: that it kills a living human being, and it does terrible harm to women.

It was also painful to watch control of the U.S. Congress change hands.  It had already been painful to watch Republicans, who should have known better, make a mockery out of conservative principles with their out-of-control spending that actually put some Democrats to shame.  For their foolish and reckless fiscal behavior, Republicans are now sleeping in the bed they made for themselves.

Conservatives and Christians were also bashed pretty hard by the moral failures of some who were "on our side."  There was the Mark Foley homosexual page scandal, used to tar conservatives because Foley had been a Republican who opposed special rights for homosexuals.  The Reverend Ted Haggard homosexual/meth scandal was further slapped in our faces in an attempt to undermine our agenda.

While the tactic was successful (it caused the "moderates" to abandon ship and many of the conservatives to stay home in disgust), it should be acknowledged that the argument that the failures of these men in some way undermines the goals they were aligned with is completely false.  The failure of someone to live up to the ideals they support in no way invalidates those goals.  If that were the case, speed limits should have gone the way of the dinosaur the first time a cop broke the speed limit while off duty.

Despite what became the busiest year of my life, my family and I shared some really good times together. In trying to operate Dakota Voice without nearly enough assistance or financial support,  there were many days (many, many days) when I thought my mind was coming apart at the seams.  I used to be very organized, on top of details and commitments, and had things under control.  This year, I could barely keep my to-do list updated, much less get it all accomplished.  I probably failed more people, failed to keep my word, and disappointed people's expectations more than I have in a long, long time. 

And despite not giving my family nearly the time and priority they should have received, we managed to have some fun and grow together.  I had to force myself to be more patient with my children (not an easy task--I'm not a natural "kid guy" like most men), even as they were patient with me and my attempts to be in 4 places at once.

We took a couple of really memorable family trips together.  We went to Devil's Tower in Wyoming in September and had a great weekend, despite the fact that it rained about 90% of the time we were there.  The Lord was kind enough to stop the rain for about one hour, long enough for us to walk around the Tower without getting drenched.  Our most memorable trip this year was to Walnut Grove, MN and DeSmet, SD for a couple of Laura Ingalls Wilder pageants (my wife and daughter love the books and TV show).  We had a fantastic time touring Walnut Grove for a day and a half, seeing everything there was to see there and just getting a little down-time hanging out in the town park.  The pageant that evening was excellent; the townspeople who act in the play really put 110% of their heart and soul into it.  We went to the pageant in DeSmet the next night and enjoyed it too, then spent some time the next day looking at some of the sites we didn't get to enjoy when we went there once before in the winter.   Best of all, we had fun together as a family and enjoyed each other's company.

This last week or so, around and between Christmas and New Years, has unfortunately been the kind that you want to repeat as little as possible.  It wouldn't be appropriate to go into detail here, but suffice to say that there have been serious personal and professional challenges that have asserted themselves in the past week, and there has been a boat-load of soul-searching on my part and perhaps on the part of others, too.  It's been the kind of week that if I see another one like this in 10 years, it'll be too soon.  But that's life: sometimes it stinks, but it's the only game in town, so you have to cowboy up and get on with it.  And that's what I'll be doing.

So while 2006 had its disappointments, there will be good and golden memories from it as well.  As I move into the earliest hours of 2007, something becomes ever clearer to me.  More and more I feel a kinship with that Old Testament prophet Jeremiah who once said, "But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."

Every time I get tired, disappointed, downcast and feel like I can't go on, I can't get away from that fire. 

I can get mad at the lack of results sometimes and I can say, "To hell with them then!  Let them rot!"  Yet the fire still burns.

I can throw a pity party over what seems like wasted work and unrecognized efforts.  Yet the fire still burns.

I can get angry and cry at the same time that God isn't doing more to the tune of my satisfaction, and say that I'll just keep my peace and let the world go its merry way to destruction.  Yet the fire still burns. 

The world has thrown buckets and buckets of water on that fire, and I've thrown my own cups of water on it myself, because sometimes that fire is a royal pain in the neck to what I'd rather be doing.  Yet the fire still burns. 

This editorial has been far more personal (and far more rambling) than I normally do...perhaps more so than I have ever done, and I don't plan on it becoming a pattern. 

But I will thank you, Dear Reader, for the opportunity to share some of it with you, and I'll leave you with my heart-felt prayer for a good and blessed 2007, for both you and me.  If God reigns in our lives, then it will be good, no matter what circumstances may come.

Does your fire still burn?  Then burn with it, because a fire from God is like that old burning bush that Moses saw, that burns but is not consumed.