The year was 1969 and my parents welcomed me into this world at 2:19 AM! No wonder I like to be up early!

No, this isn’t about me, well not sort of. Today is January 17, 2021 and I have been blessed to be on this planet for 18, 901 days or 3.919311e+10 seconds – I am not a math person, I looked it up on google of course! I want to share with you what I remember of the America I grew up in and then share a bit about being an adult and those memories and current days.

So let me start with the earliest memories of simply playing outside with friends from sun up to sun down in the summer time. Even into the fall, we would be around the circle ( street I grew up on was Woodland Circle more of a horseshoe, but it was called circle.) ’til late at night. What makes all of that so “unique?” Our parents were not worried about us being taken, abused or killed – unlike today where this is a concern. As kids we weren’t worried either – we just went out and played. Now, the things we did varied from climbing trees, playing kickball, whiffle ball, tag, riding bikes, ghosts in the graveyard, 500, softball, hide and seek, chasing after lightning bugs and so much more. Playing outside was just as normal and as American that it could be – no fears – just the freedom to have fun.

Then there were the random fishing trips my dad and I would go on for the day, well felt like a whole day, my dad was the guy who wanted to always leave before or right at sun up and head out to fish somewhere. Although living in the suburbs of Chicago, we lived within 30-45 minutes of several lakes and rivers – so we always had somewhere to try. My dad was not a complicated fisherman, pole, bobber and worms – simple! Sometimes it worked, other times nothing. Didn’t matter much anyways, we always released anything we caught. Dad was also my t-ball and baseball coach through little league. Then he was my Webelo leader, mom was my cub scout den mother. We were just the average American family back then. All of your friends played a sport and probably half of them were in scouts – so from campouts to parades we had a lot of time just hanging together – enjoying the simple things. I can’t forget to add the trips for ice cream after our baseball games – win or lose, we went as a team.

The 4th of July meant parades, carnivals and fireworks, Memorial Day we had parades, Halloween we would start trick or treat at 4pm and would go through all of town until 8 or 9pm. Christmas time all of the stores and malls would decorate along with most neighborhoods and we would attend midnight mass. Valentine Day you would make your own “valentine mail box” at school, Easter would bring baskets of candy and eggs and things were really simpler.

Another place where there was little fear was school. Sure, there were the usual school bullies, but friends and teachers looked out for each other. There weren’t any shootings, knives, etc. Yes, there were fights, but they broke up so much easier than today. K-Senior Year I remember having about 5 “bullies” total and although things they said were hurtful, physically they never hurt me. Just kids being kids then.

1976 was the USA bicentennial!! The flags, the 4th of July celebrations and even the all around excitement in the air was pretty neat! Of course – it waned, like most things do here. Television was much simpler too. I think we had no more than 10 tv stations then – 10 and every kids was the remote control! Don’t get me wrong, there were issues during these times; gas shortages, hostage crisis, Vietnam finally ends, blackouts, cold war ends, recessions, unemployment rises, racial tensions and more. BUT there was a difference then compared to now – everything was serious and impactful, but we didn’t have the technology or media presence to blow things up, share everywhere and cause fear and panic, which is what we have today.

As I write this, I am realizing there is much I could share, but I think that turns into a book! I think you get it, things were simpler from 1969 – 1987 ish. It was the mid to late 80’s where people starting putting razors in candy along with drugs for trick or treating. The world started to change in various ways – creation of cable tv, computers, technology and greed, power and lust took over. I remember training as a financial broker and on October 19, 1987 the stock market crashed, went down over 500 points! Us trainees were leave to answer phones and had no idea what had really happened. This day stands out to me for many reasons as some decisions were made that day for my life – one not becoming a broker! But it also stands out as a date that I can reflect back to and I can picture just how much things changed in this country and in many ways never has returned to the America I grew up in.

The 1990’s saw the increase of technology of all kinds and created a large tech industry boom, which was followed by the dot com crash of many companies. World wide web, cell phones, satellite phones, cable tv, high speed internet, internet cafes, multiples of news media outlets and so much more. Now what all of this technology has done has brought the world together – but also has caused the world to grow apart.

We simply know too much today and what we don’t know, someone is writing that story to mislead or misguide us all – even as I type I am sure someone is creating a news story something along the lines of “Washington DC will cease as Capitol of US.” No really, I am sure there is. Knowing too much, or having the access to know too much is actually a danger. Our humanness cannot handle that much information. Think about it; want to know the weather is Austria? Who is the number singer in Ireland? What are the popular names for babies in England? High of 48 and rain showers, Olivia Rodrigo, Oliver and Olivia. All within a few minutes of looking! But you can also look up terrorism, addictions, wars – you name it you CAN find it on the web.

America, today as I see and feel it: pandemic, kids not in schools – meeting online, American flag treated like a piece of cloth, little respect for law enforcement, corrupt politics like never before seen, drug addiction up, suicide up, pastors leaving ministry up, stress overall for people – UP! America is made up of a bunch of spoiled, entitled humans running around loose – causing harm where ever they choose, as long as they get more. We have the baby boomers population starting to age out and pass away, Gen X is in mid life crisis, the millennials working at fitting in after years of really spouting off – “me, me, me,” Gen Z knows nothing about simple old fashioned life – they were born into the tech world and most likely came out of the womb with a cell phone, ok an exaggeration – but you get the point. Work ethics clashing, freedoms clashing, language and learning clashing, church under attack, political views under attack and people clashing….CLASHING is what appears to be the “norm” these days. Very little patriotic support and in fact many today seem to want to “open all of the borders” and let whomever in and whatever happens – happens!

I know this blog entry is honestly a lot of rambling points, but I needed to get this out of my head so I can focus on what is important! You’ve been there – your head gets filled with all of the noise and distractions and the next thing you notice is brain fog, tired, exhaustion! Anyways – if you have stayed with me this long -thanks – appreciate this very much. Now, America- where did you go?

Thanks for stopping by the fire, Pastor Dennis