Putting

Written By: Vernon Puton

Yes, “putting” is a heteronym. So, I’ll leave it to you to decide if today I’m placing some objects in new locations or, indeed writing this while on break from my golf game. Nonetheless, know this: It wasn’t my desire to write this piece today. But the mayor of my city, George Jennifer, told me that when he came upon my name as he was recently perusing our city’s census records, he noted it was somewhat similar to that of a man who’s been, for nefarious reasons, dominating the world’s news stage lately. And thus, according to Mayor Jennifer, that was his rationale for asking me to write in this forum today! But the mayor did say that I needn’t restrain my remarks to the current tragedy in Eastern Europe. And knowing I’d been granted such literary freedom led me to begin this piece in what I suppose is a rather unorthodox fashion; and, the remainder of it is comprised of what I guess could be termed “random observations.”
Not long ago, but thankfully before I began writing this piece, I watched what I termed a “searching for the meaning of life” movie. And I termed it that because I felt its purpose must have been little more than to acknowledge and accept how time continues on regardless of happiness and tragedy. Four basically separate, yet slightly interwoven plots, loosely tied together by their characters’ illegal actions and dangerous lifestyles all ended quietly with the anti-social protagonists “beating their immediate problems” so to speak, and moving on. But at the end of such films, I usually wonder what those characters will move on to. Will they engage in more self-induced dilemmas which next time they’ll perhaps not be able to walk away from? That’s usually my fear. And that fear of fictional characters performing in plots they cannot satisfactorily cope within, then often leads me to ponder and/or express viewpoints concerning unfortunately real, and sometimes unnecessarily performed misdeeds. And then I wonder what effects those misdeeds will have upon mankind in the present, and as they slip farther into history. And I’ll continue now with more examples of what I’ve just described.
Recently, on the one year anniversary of the attack on our nation’s capital, I found myself thinking back to the events of January 6, 2021; but then also pondering the wretched press coverage those events engendered. It seemed a group of pathetic left-wingers attempted to “capitalize” on the wrongdoing of others. They appeared on various media formats and, while shaking figurative fingers at America, pledged to save the republic! Oh, the great liberal Saviors! And they supposed they’d covered themselves in glory! So, let us now thank our Higher Masters that we, as mere peasants, lacking the keen intellect and superior art of expression manifested by those leftists, have them and their supposed altruism to guide us!
But doesn’t it seem as though news-wise we continually go from one catastrophe to another? I mean, I was barely recovering from Covid and the “fallout” of the street kneeling, when suddenly I was confronted with the fact that Earth’s largest nation (land size wise) had invaded one of its much smaller neighbors – and apparently for no good reason. And then I saw the news reports of the suffering and death this unprovoked attack was causing. And I saw a lot of buildings being destroyed. And that made me wonder, even if they’re not that concerned with human life, wouldn’t the so-called radical environmentalists at least object to all the needless pollution and waste of natural resources that this unjustified invasion is producing?
But I suppose that everyone has to find his or her own “acceptance” of time as it passes. And mine has always been that I’ve always known who and what I really am. I’m only a “consumer” of all I learn is happening around me, and in the scope of Earth’s total population, of course I am (as is everyone else) very small. But I know my social, political, and religious views are as valid and as controversial as anyone else’s.
And I know that I can truthfully say at the end of each day that during it I did the best I could. Oh, others no doubt did better, and some may have even outdone me by putting forth what for them should be considered a half-hearted effort. Yet, I know that when I look into a mirror, I’m at peace with the image staring back at me, because it’s not distorted by phony values; and, its beliefs are firmly held. And when I look out a window, I know I’ll never see a bizarre or unfortunately altered world. And that’s because I don’t need to look back at a lifetime of political worthlessness such as the person who wrote in this forum last month.
But then even he is far better off than the man whose last name approximates mine. That’s a man who apparently likes to subdue his neighbors. And, from a position of power, he evidently has no qualms about killing innocent men, women and children; to say nothing of destroying many homes and other structures. Yet, those who know what the reality of eternity is, and always will be, understand he’ll be held responsible for what he’s done, if not by earthly masters, then by those other-worldly. And, here’s a very troubling question for the people of Planet Earth: How long will you allow certain nations to invade and overrun others, and then kill many of the overrun nation’s citizens, as well as confiscate what had been the property of those victims of invasion? And, what will you do when so-called “asylum seekers” “escape” to other nations not involved in the immediate conflict? Remember, as a rule those nations will be already sufficiently populated.