A very strong preacher man insisted that I walk to the forefront of the large yellowish and brown church on the eastside of Billings, Montana where he sharply pointed his words at the visions he intended to direct, “Do you notice anything out there?
The only thing consuming the mind was a seriously deep question, “Why of all Sunday’s did I pick today to attempt to slam my brother Teddy’s fingers in the musty smelling hymnal?”
“Do you know how many have tried to distract my attention from sharing a heart felt message? Think of a number then connect it to another thought…how many of those young adults have chosen to use the loud slamming together of innocent papers blessed with music to seize control of my mission? What you don’t realize is that I come here every Sunday expecting you to make noise. I expect you to reach out and wake up my family, friends and newly gathered neighbors. The problem is…you’re way has been done over and over again. I challenge you to seek originality. Bring something new to try next week.”
It was written in the early pages of the 19th century by Okute that there are no two birds or humans exactly alike because each was invited to participate through something called independence. Through those unmeasured rhythms one is given the strength to rely on him or herself.
From the way you make your nest to the idea of tossing a stone you might be identical in sight but inside the caverns of day to day experiences nothing remains the same. Or does it?
Instantly I’m shot back to July 5, 2002 the moment baseball lost its greatest hitter Ted Williams; the only human to have a batting average of 406 by seasons end. Within hours of losing the national hero CBS News reported the all time hitter’s son John Henry had come to the conclusion that his father’s DNA would be preserved for future use.
I’ve lost many arguments over this subject mainly because I’m not a scientist and radio formats will never grant me with enough permission to play one on the radio not even in a Keith Hawthorne Ford commercial. But…in an age of cloning sheep and the food we eat; if granted permission to gain access into a George Lucas/Darth Vader way of replenishing the human forest…no DNA can bring back a baseball legend.
Dr. Ronald Mack from Wake Forest University spoke for hours with me about this subject. He was deeply injured by the efforts to keep the Splendid Splinter from locating the peace he deserved but was held back by a bullying son and scientists. Being from the medical field Dr. Mack was horribly embarrassed by his colleagues and the generations that would make DNA human growth one day legal.
On August 12, 2003 CBS reported while Ted’s body remained suspended in liquid nitrogen and his head placed in a steel can his DNA was missing?
Where the hell am I going with this story?
How many times during the average day are you the punk kid in a tiny church slamming the fingers of a brother in a hymnal? How often have your children blurted out lines that resemble pictures of a past you were told couldn’t be changed? How about those moments when your reactions to their actions are DNA clones of your parents?
There are no two birds or humans exactly alike because each was invited to participate through something called independence.
Just because you look like Ted Williams doesn’t guarantee you can hit a ball.
Let’s localize this…your feet in my shoes standing on the stage with the strong preacher man; vocally we're the loudest generation with no plans of ever stopping the emails, texting, Face Booking and whatever other tool used when Social Networking.
Once outside high school and college we guaranteed friends and coworkers that if and when the opportunity arises you’ll never become the shrewd nitpicking tit for tat micromanaging boss that played your father like a puppet at a clown convention; you would enforce positive change with acceptable by all successes in the workplace!
How's that going for ya?
Rather than locate the vision to distract the strong preacher man with newer methods of hymnal slamming…we’ve chosen to be DNA clones of yesterday, the day before, just like last year and the week before that.
The Nightly News on NBC is no different than 1980 when Omar Kadafi scared the hell out of every teen in America whose sights were no longer focused on a career but rather battle. Arthur is back in theaters with another lunatic British actor sporting how cool life is when you’re doing everything drunk and confused. The Beatles are the hottest selling thing on Itunes and the majority of today’s kids watch Scooby Doo and go crazy over Spiderman.
60’s 70’s and 80’s fad and true Americana aren’t supposed to belong to every generation. Growing up I never wanted to become old like my Grandparents…but because society has made it cool to horde boxes of junk that should've been tossed when you left home the first time sadly I can’t wait to reach 80 going on 16.
“I challenge you to seek originality. Bring something new to try next week.”
I will always believe in you first…
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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