The Middle

From the beginning of our written history, mankind has been in the middle. Whether it is a Judeo-Christian/Islamic origin or that of any other evolving cultures, we as a race of people have been in the middle of the longest and still ongoing battle history has ever witnessed. This battle is the conflict between good and evil. From Cain to Columbine the world we live in toils with this on a daily basis. Through this conflict both prevail to some degree until the ultimate winner is announced.

                                                                         photo by live4god.org

From the towns in Colorado and all over this world this conflict continues on a day to day basis. The little town of Connellsville that I reside in is not immune from this. In 1957 the Connellsville Aerie 493 Fraternal Order of the Eagles placed a monument depicting a sculpture of the Ten Commandments (http://www.heraldstandard.com/news/local_news/ten-commandments-monument-part-of-eagles-history/article_57554fe1-0f0d-5375-88b7-e6a5a97fa182.html?mode=image) that at the time was on side of the newly built high school. Now they are boxed up away from the eyes of the Junior High students that call this their campus.

As our scene in this long running drama between good vs. evil, one parent couldn’t live with the fact that their children would be exposed to such a horrific sight as they entered and exited the school. No, this one person felt that they had a voice and this voice will need to be heard. The truth being, the monolith depicting these rules Moses inscribed on Mount Sinai is off on the corner of the building and one must make an effort to not only look at it but be close enough to read it. 

This is where irony enters, as it does so many times in the acts we witness as we inhale and exhale our lives away. The community became so outraged that one person can take away the history of their town that the majority of its inhabitants believe in, that they designed signs in the school’s colors and posted them by the hundreds, thousands across the city in their store fronts, on their garages, attached to their front porches and free standing along the roads in their yards.

           

                Where an out of the way, not so easily read structure once laid is now replaced with legible signs in every corner of Connellsville for this one parent's children to read everywhere they go. This is just a small example of how we are all in the middle of this battle between the good and the evil that makes its way into everyone’s lives. The protagonist in my first book Memoirs of Dying Man, is in a situation where he needs to reflect on these conflicts so as to determine what he can share with his children about the meaning of life. In this philosophical tale he has epiphanies that will make you think of the how your own battles molded you and yours.

Best wishes you all survive intact,

S. Ray Cook

You can follow S. Ray Cook on twitter @SraycookSc or view his most recent reviews on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Dying-Man-Ray-Cook/dp/1627466037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392185793&sr=8-1&keywords=memoirs+of+dying+man