Last Saturday Sweetheart and I planned to go to the sometimes weekly Bluegrass concert.
The venue is a little general store and meat market with a fresh meat counter and shelves packed full of essentials for people who live in a small rural town. The concert takes place in a large adjoining room with eclectic seating. There are a few old church pews and some attached folding chairs that may have been in a theater at one time.
When there is music scheduled, the staff prepares a variety of entrees and sides for customers’ eating pleasure. Sweetheart and I have friends who look forward to all of the festivities, as well.
Since the weather had taken a turn for the worse and we live 50 miles from the store, I called in the afternoon to see if the concert was still on. We were told that it was.
I made that telephone call at 3:00. We left the house at 5:15, as we usually do. We dealt with snowy roads in some places and reached our destination about 15 minutes later than usual.
When we arrived, we discovered, to our dismay, that the concert had been cancelled—at 5:00! We were told that the cancellation had been posted on Facebook! Don’t people know that not all people subscribe to Facebook?
I suppose there are other advantages to subscribing to Facebook, besides missing an event. However, I have heard so many negative reports about it that I don’t want to get involved. I hear too much about bullying and about relaying false information.
Of course, when it comes to disseminating false information, it isn’t limited to social media. We are so accustomed to seeing and hearing the news as it is presented to us that our brains are like empty bowls that sand is being sifted into. We tend to just accept it as it is presented.
Our brains were made for observing, thinking, discerning and deciding. We have already been in a campaign for President of the United States. We know that the candidates will be focusing on the bad points of their opponents. This is a test for our brains—to do some observing, thinking, discerning and deciding.
Or, maybe, we should ignore what the candidates and the media have to say. Maybe, we should do some reflection.
Are our lives better than they were on inauguration day 2021?
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com
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