OPINION
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
A5
Is there a Mary Magdalene in your life?
OTHER VIEWS
Danny Tyree
f you could be the proverbial “fl y on the
wall,” what biblical event would you
most like to witness?
I realize some of you don’t accept
the Bible in the fi rst place. But if you do
believe it, what scene would you love to see
unfold before your eyes?
I imagine most people would go the
Cecil B. DeMille route. They would choose
something spectacular, such as the Israel-
ites passing through the Red Sea, Noah’s
ark riding out the Flood or Daniel remain-
ing faithful in the lions’ den.
Me? I would love to see the early-morn-
ing encounter between Jesus Christ and
I
Mary Magdalene on Resurrection Sunday.
I can think of lots of words to describe
the mood of Mary Magdalene and the other
friends/followers of Jesus immediately fol-
lowing his arrest, mock trial and crucifi x-
ion: blindsided, dejected, disillusioned,
heartbroken, anxious, fearful, rudderless. …
Two days after the crucifi xion, when
Mary Magdalene discovered the empty
tomb, it was not yet the symbol of hope
that has inspired millions of Easter sermons
throughout the centuries. The rock rolled
away from the tomb left her confused and
distraught. She implored the man whom
she mistook for the gardener to tell her
where her beloved teacher’s body had been
relocated.
The “gardener” — in an action reminis-
cent of the Almighty God speaking to the
prophet Elijah in a “still small voice” —
needed to utter only one word: “Mary.”
Lost pets may wander home after 10
years. Loved ones feared drowned at sea
may fi nd refuge on a remote island before
achieving contact with civilization. But has
there ever been such a transcendent moment
in human history as the “late” Jesus of Naz-
areth revealing Himself to one of his inner
circle?
Suddenly, Mary Magdalene’s earlier
negative emotions gave way to relief, ela-
tion, comfort, joy and unprecedented zeal.
Is there a Mary Magdalene in your life
— someone who needs a little unexpected
reassurance and inspiration?
Perhaps there is a friend, relative or busi-
ness partner whom you haven’t spoken
to in years because of some long-forgot-
ten disagreement. True, some relationships
are beyond repair; but you never know the
emotional impact of an olive branch until
you try. You may fi nd yourself lifting a dark
cloud and making up for lost time.
Are your children or grandchildren
enablers of bullies? Instead of letting them
cheer the bullies or give tacit approval
of the bullies, nudge them to show sup-
port for the underdog. Encourage them to
defend the new kid in town, the weird kid,
the sissy kid. It could be life-changing for
an entire classroom.
Are there shut-ins on your street (or in
the local nursing home) who face long,
dreary days because of physical impairment
and the fact that their children live thou-
sands of miles away? Drop in for a chat.
Off er to do some chores. Let them know
they matter.
Human beings do not have to be rudder-
less, purposeless and hopeless. They do not
have to live lives of quiet desperation — if
someone cares enough to give them a sense
of self-worth and brighter tomorrows.
Whether you embrace the Gospel or
consider it a fairy tale, the possibilities for
uplifting, “out-of-the-blue” attitude adjust-
ments are endless.
Whether you cherish the cross of Cal-
vary or not, you can still be the cavalry rid-
ing to the rescue of fellow humans who
have given up hope.
———
Danny Tyree welcomes email responses
at tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his
Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.”
Embracing technology and still building comprehension skills
OTHER VIEWS
Scott Smith
F
rom very early on kids recognize
there is some form of importance
to the devices many of us carry
around. They see us check to see what is
on them all the time.
This form of communication is here
to stay and is part of our daily lives. Like
many things, it can be a wonderful com-
munication tool or become a possible
addiction. Kind of like candy can be really
good but can cause major problems for
some of our bodies.
Like most everything in the world
that has been developed we have to stop
and evaluate how it might be best used
to advance our knowledge. The same is
true with electronic devices. Over the
past couple of years, we have experienced
major changes in our children’s educa-
tion. For a period during COVID, homes-
chooling with school support became our
norm in the majority of American homes.
This is neither bad nor good but part of
our changing world. As we move forward
one thing that does remain the same is the
development of our children’s knowledge
and understanding.
As parents, aunts, uncles, and grand-
parents, we can use this technology to
expand our children’s brain and mem-
ory development with a few minor
adjustments.
After a child watches a show, tak-
ing time to have them tell you about that
show or information they learned is when
the learning takes place. We need the
child to learn to recall information and
tell about what they saw or heard. When
younger children begin discussing what
they saw or heard, the faster those path-
ways are built in their brains to be able
to recall information from diff erent inter-
actions they have experienced and books
they read.
Going way back in history the one
and, basically, the only way to pass infor-
mation on to younger generations was
through storytelling. Children listened to
the stories and then they were expected to
retell the story. This was how history was
passed on. In our environment today we
depend on our tech knowledge. Not that
long ago you knew the phone numbers of
your parents, friends, and important busi-
nesses you used all the time. Today most
of us depend on our cellphones and just
hit the call button on the phone.
Now more than ever we need to have
young kids tell us about what is happening
in their lives along with what they experi-
ence. Explaining what they experienced,
saw, or heard are the beginning steps of
building both short-term memory and
long-term memory.
Having your kids send you a video or
text about a couple of things that happen
during their day is one way of embracing
the technology that fascinates the kids but
works part of their brain that needs to be
developed to be able to recall information.
After a child watches a show or video
have them tell about it or have someone
ask them questions. This will also help
build their ability to recall information. If
they are unable to tell or answer questions
then they need to watch it again.
Reading comprehension is a transferred
skill. Being able to remember what you
read and then discuss it comes after we
have developed the skill of being able to
remember and tell about life events. If you
have a child that is unable to recall what
they read you probably need to step back
and have them learn to recall what is hap-
pening in their environment or retell sto-
ries. They should then be able to apply
those skills to their reading rather than
just reading words.
There are lots of great podcasts and
informational videos available for chil-
dren today. Have them watch those but
remember to go one step further and have
them tell you about what they saw or
heard. Start off with having them tell just
a couple of things and build to telling sev-
eral things. After older children tell about
what they saw or what happened, have
them write (text) about it depending on
their age.
Embrace technology and build compre-
hension skills in your children.
———
Scott Smith is a 40-plus year Umatilla
County educator and serves on the Decod-
ing Dyslexia Oregon board as its parent/
teacher liaison.
What about our children? Part 2
OTHER
VIEWS
Carl Kiss
S
o how’s our democracy fairing
these days? Well, democracy’s a
troubling system to some because
of its fundamental fairness — let all
legal voters vote; accurately count
the votes cast; and then truthfully
announce who received the most votes.
In other words, our preferred candi-
dates can’t win every election, right?
But you really could win every
election, right? All you have to do
is put the fi x in at the state and local
level, by selectively creating obstacles
to voting for the opposing party’s vot-
ers, and by putting corruptly biased
Republicans in charge of vote count-
ing. Then you could win every time,
right? Even when you really lost (like
by, say, over 7 million votes, as in the
last presidential election).
That is the game plan Republi-
can-controlled states have followed
since the last election: placing Repub-
licans willing to declare all Republi-
can candidates the winners, regardless
of the vote totals, in key state and local
election positions; severely restricting
voting by mail; eliminating same-day
voter registration; reducing or elim-
inating voting drop boxes in Demo-
cratic strongholds; and making already
too-long voting lines in those same
areas even more diffi cult to navigate,
by criminalizing the giving of water
and food to those waiting in these too-
long lines. So please remember, boys
and girls: Don’t help a person who
has fainted or is otherwise struggling.
If you’re in Republican America, you
could wind up in jail.
If you claim to be an American
patriot, and claim to support the prin-
ciples of freedom and justice for all
upon which our country was founded,
what does your continuing support of
the party and individual championing
such anti-democracy eff orts teach your
children and grandchildren? One likely
lesson: “Remember, boys and girls:
if you can’t win fair and square, then
cheat. Cheat creatively and often.”
The recent bans of certain books,
and of the teaching of certain truthful
history, are just more examples of such
cheating. Sure, the First Amendment
guarantees a free marketplace of com-
peting ideas in the United States. But if
your political opponents eff ectively use
books and true history to win the battle
of ideas in that American marketplace,
boys and girls, better violate our trea-
sured First Amendment by banning the
ideas and true history your opponents
eff ectively employ. (If you’re wonder-
ing how to best ban books and truth,
look to Putin’s Russia and Hitler’s
Nazi Germany.)
And, by the way, how dare pub-
lic school teachers teach the true his-
tory of slavery and discrimination
in the U.S.! That could end up mak-
ing our children feel compassion and
empathy for minority groups, and
even feel badly about egregious past
wrongs. Sure don’t want that! (Guess
I’ve been wrong to think that compas-
sion and empathy are essential Chris-
tian values.) Don’t repeat my mistake,
boys and girls. Legislating ignorance
may violate the First Amendment and
traditional Christian values, but it’s
clearly worth a few unconstitutional
and immoral acts to provide the bliss
of ignorance to future Republicans.
As I struggle to hold onto opti-
mism about our country’s future, I see
far too many among our future gener-
ations raised to favor political intol-
erance, reliance upon lies, and anger
too extreme to permit rational thought.
Today’s Republicans, please know
this: Until you speak out against
such aff ronts to democracy and truth
orchestrated by today’s Republican
Party and its leader, your silence and
votes aid and abet the Republican Par-
ty’s continuing attacks on our democ-
racy. And your children and grandchil-
dren will eventually come to know this
about you (if they haven’t realized it
already).
Hesitant to speak out now in favor
of the principles upon which this coun-
try was founded, and against today’s
Republican Party’s continuing attacks
on our democracy? Well, then picture
your most beloved child or grandchild
hesitatingly approaching you to ask
why you no longer believe in freedom,
equality and justice for all, and no lon-
ger believe in the importance of truth
and loving your neighbor. Because
sometimes only the wise and innocent
words of a beloved child can open a
closed mind.
———
Carl Kiss is a lawyer living in Enter-
prise, and would welcome the opportu-
nity to discuss these ideas, and oppos-
ing viewpoints, in Wallowa County
classrooms. His email address is ckis-
slaw@aol.com.
Celebrate Earth Day at the Recycle Center
REDUCE,
REUSE,
RECYCLE
Peter Ferré
he fi rst Earth Day was celebrated in 1970,
when a United States senator from Wis-
consin organized a national demonstration
to raise awareness about environmental issues.
Rallies took place across the country, and by the
end of the year the U.S. government had created
the Environmental Protection Agency.
Our planet is an amazing place, but it needs
our help to thrive. That’s why each year on April
22 more than a billion people celebrate Earth
Day to help protect the planet from climate
change and pollution. By taking part in activi-
ties like reducing what we buy and use, recycling
and reusing everything that we can, picking up
trash and planting trees, we are helping make our
world a happier, healthier place to live.
This year the Friends of Wallowa County
Recycling will again be hosting a three-day
Spring Cleaning and Educational event — Thurs-
day, April 21, to Saturday, April 23 — at the
Recycling Center in Enterprise in honor of Earth
Day. Volunteers will be there to answer questions
about recycling. There will be a kid’s coloring
contest this year as well as Spin-the-Wheel (back
by popular demand). Prizes will include recycled
feed sack shopping bags hand-made by volun-
teers. Come join us.
In addition to volunteers doing a “deep clean”
T
of the Recycling Center and the surrounding
area, this year there will be a Community Upcy-
cle Yard Sale where you can bring your reusables
and shop for other reusable items such as tools,
housewares, furniture, clothing, outdoor gear,
etc., etc., etc. … All the funds generated from the
yard sale will be used to maintain and expand the
Recycling Center.
The yard sale will be Saturday, April 23, from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We will be accepting donated
items for the sale Thursday-Friday, April 21-22,
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday morning
before the sale. Please bring any and all of your
reusable items that another might enjoy and ben-
efi t from, to help support the county’s recycling
eff orts.
As you know, the Recycle Center accepts
white and mixed paper, rigid plastic six-pack
holders, metal and aluminum cans, clean plas-
tic containers, (without lids), and cardboard. Next
week help us celebrate the beauty of our planet,
and the fact it needs our help by bringing your
recyclables down to the center, (ask a friend if
you can bring theirs as well), picking up trash
you see on the side of the road, (much of which is
recyclable), using your own shopping bags at the
grocery store, thinking twice about the packaging
something comes in before buying it, and remem-
bering that the planet is all of our backyard.
Thank you for bringing your reusable items to
the Recycle Center next week to help raise funds
to support all of our recycling eff orts, and joining
us at the Community Upcycle Yard Sale on Sat-
urday, April 23. We look forward to seeing you at
the Recycle Center.
———
Peter Ferré is a member of the Wallowa County
Recycling Task Force.