By Van Yandell
1 Corinthians 9:22 “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
Having been a part of a generation that had an opportunity to listen to those that actually lived through the Great Depression of the 1930’s has given me enlightenment to some facts and concepts that today’s generation would never even consider reasonable.
An “old saying” that once was common was, “We used everything of the hog but the squeal.” “Hog killin’ time” was a common occurrence in rural America in the 30s (and long before) until the 1970s and is still done in families in some areas.
People, especially during those hard times, made use of everything available. Nothing was wasted and nothing was taken for granted. People were thankful for what God had provided and believed that to be wasteful was being sinful.
Recently I talked to a lady that had bought a turkey on sale for forty-nine cents per pound. She roasted it, deboned the meat; then cooked the left over product to make broth. The broth later ended up as a soup base with vegetables and chopped up turkey.
My mother raised chickens when I was a little boy in the 1950s. She bought chicks at the local farm store and fed them to a size she called pullets. Mom would kill one on Saturday and we had fried chicken for Sunday dinner.
Mother could have gone to the local grocery store (there were no super-markets back then) and bought a chicken for ten cents per pound but that would have been a luxury she could not have afforded.
I remember the old iron kettle being filled with boiling water over an open fire. She “scalded” the dead chickens to remove the feathers. Mom also used the kettle when making lye soap. The home-made soap plus a scrubbing by her kept me clean. I often thought her attitude was, “If you don’t bleed, you’re not clean.”
I used that kettle for a flower pot and still have it. One winter it froze and the side broke out of it. I welded it back together and still use it for flowers.
This past summer I had the privilege of preaching in several churches in Kentucky. In the congregation of one was a couple that had made sorghum molasses the week before. I found it interesting to talk to them and hear of their procedure. They had planted and grew their own grain sorghum. They gave me a sample and it was fantastic with hot buttered biscuits.
To today’s generation that seems to think products grow on the shelves in the stores, this must sound like the stone-age, but it is reality for many of us. To exist in a world of electrical dependence may some time in the future become a world of horror for many.
We are only one electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) away from electricity becoming non-existent. These may be caused by solar flares/storms or the detonation of a nuclear device.
Terrorist attacks or an over loaded grid could also result in electrical outage for millions of people. Since this condition has only been experienced for short periods of time, we cannot even imagine what the results of a long term electrical interruption would mean.
The alarmists and conspiracy theorists would have us in a state of panic but most do not listen to their rhetoric. But if you think it cannot happen, think again. A permanent (or long term) electrical outage would immediately take us back to the 1930’s.
It might be advisable for parents (or grandparents) to teach the young ones a few survival techniques. Those actions and procedures people practiced as normal fifty plus years ago may come in handy at some point in their future.
To plant and raise a garden, kill and eat wild game, find and purify water or food sources may seem archaic but those skills may become necessary for survival.
Apparently I’m not the only one thinking this way. I see numerous articles and videos on preparing for disasters and lists of food products to purchase and store for such eventualities. To be prepared might sound old fashioned but if it becomes necessary, it may have been an expedient action.
Sad to say, electricity and technology has had an adverse effect on our connection with our Creator. I recently saw a poster with three pictures. One was at a ball game, another at a rock concert, and the third, a church service.
As you might imagine the first two events were full of people and in the church were plenty of empty seats. Because of declining church participation and worship, the working of the Great Commission has suffered greatly (Acts 1:8). If Christians do not tell the world about Jesus, no one will.
The Bible teaches the only eternal salvation is by a faith based belief that Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected (John 3:16).
People in previous times used all their resources; we must use all the resources available to us to promote the Gospel of our Jesus. Nothing was wasted and that included time.
As many people in the 21st century seem to adhere to the belief that life is all about the here and now, eternity is not at the forefront of their minds.
Just a short seventy years ago, people were killing their own chickens. Also they were making their own soap and heating their houses with firewood they had cut in fireplaces they had built.
For anyone to think the world cannot go back to that is a state of blind foolishness comparable to thinking that eternity is for fools. As many as eighty millions Americans alive today are too young or were not yet born on September 11, 2001.
Yet, we well know the terrorist attack on that date happened. I recently had to explain what WTC was in reference to 9-11.
Simply because something is not at one’s fingertips and clearly visible, doesn’t mean it is not reality.
Christians are doing a great disservice to the world by not telling others about the saving power of our Creator (Colossians 1:16). The fundamental of the gospel is: Eternal salvation is by a faith based belief that Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected.
John 20:29 “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary, from Fredonia, Kentucky. This column is part of the Bible Connection series.
