....AND NOW A WORD FROM THE MARSHAL....

Instead of wasting my time on worthless, uninspiring "content" on one of innumerable streaming services, I prefer to listen to old-time radio shows in the evening as I settle down for bed.  I have thousands of them, and I find them to be just pure, pleasurable, relaxing entertainment.  Not woke, politically-preachy liberal indoctrination like almost all modern stuff these days.

At present I'm going through my collection of "Gunsmoke" episodes which yes, was actually a wildly-popular radio drama in the late 40s-early 50s before it later became a television series.  As I listen to these old shows, I am often surprised how "adult"-oriented most of the themes are and touch on issues deeper than just the basic "Crime Doesn't Pay" lesson. 

For instance, everyone is familiar with the expression "Get the heck outta Dodge" that is associated with the show, but don't know the reasoning behind those words.  While the stereotypical image of Marshal Dillon is this bad-ass lawman gunning down "the killers and the spoilers," when you actually listen to the show you discover his character is more of a reluctant upholder of the law and keeper of the peace, with violence and gunplay always being his last resort.  His first move is always to deescalate, to negotiate, to find a peaceful solution, or to calmly ask the perpetrator to just leave town, hence the "Get out of Dodge" line.

So the show is much more thought-provoking, and centered on Dillon making difficult moral choices, rather than just "shoot-'em-up" gunfights in the street.  In fact, almost every time a ruffian reaches for his weapon Dillon yells, "Don't do it!" because he knows what the consequences will be.  And after every face-off, there are those moments of regret, the depression of his taking a life when he did not want to, and the thoughts of "Do I really want this job any more?"

That is the character of Marshal Dillon.  A man who does what is right because he has sworn to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Dodge City, Kansas.  He is a good and righteous man who can always be trusted, and that brings up another scenario that occurs on a regular basis.

Often an exchange will occur when the bad guy of the episode has been caught in a dead-end situation with no chance of escape outside of a deadly gun battle with the marshal that he will surely lose.  But maybe he feels justified in what he has done and doesn't think he should hang for it.

"All right, Decker!" (or whoever the guy is), "We gotcha covered!  You don't have a chance!  Throw down your gun and come out with your hands up!" 

"Marshal Dillon?" the villain will yell back, "If I throw down my gun and give up easy, you swear you'll see I get a fair trial?"  Some variation of that.  Maybe, "You'll see my boy gets home to his mama," or something like that.  I mean, the guy's got nothing; his henchmen are all dead and he's out of ammo.  He can't hide in this alley forever, so he begs again:

"Dillon!  If I come out, you promise not to shoot?!"

And then there's that slow pause, the gentle intake of breath, and Marshal Dillon, in his low, gravelly drawl, replies, "You have my word." [Dramatic music swells] <End Scene> {Roll annoying cigarette commercial}

And there you have it.  Even the bad guys know Dillon is worth his word.

Nowadays with scammers absolutely everywhere, spam all over my phone, crooks in politics, liars in the media - - dude, I can't even trust the FBI any more -- nobody says, "You have my word" with any seriousness.  If anyone ever said that to me today I'd be like, "Yeah, sure brah.  Now give it to me in writing and have it notarized by the bank."  But can I trust the bank?

So with this topic on my mind and as if by Divine Investigation, later on I'm reading my trusty study guide on The Gospel of John, you know, trying to get a little more understanding of God in my life.  The author is explaining and expounding on all that stuff at the start that goes something like, "In the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was with God...."  All that "word" stuff that I always breeze past because it never made much sense to me and I didn't see how it fit in with the plot.

But YEAH, it definitely does!  The study guide reveals that the Greeks were totally into the whole "stand by your word" thing!  Words were super important.  In fact, they believed that God's "Word" was the actual power that created the World and holds the whole dang Universe together!  So John is writing to these people who are asking, "Is God for real?  Are His promises legit?  Can we trust these things we have read and heard?"

And John is telling them, "Dudes!  You know that whole 'God's Word' thing?  Well, God's Word is Jesus and God has sent Jesus down to you in order to assure you, 'You have MY WORD.'"

And I'm like, "OOoooohhh!  I get it now!  I like thinking of God as a Marshal Dillon who is good and righteous and completely trustworthy.

I'm definitely throwing down my gun....

BRIGHT LIGHT OR SORE SIGHT?

I was reading in this study guide about the concept of Jesus being "The Truth" and how sometimes people don't want to accept the truth. They will look away and not listen when it is presented to them. The author then hits me with this clever line: "The truth can be as bright light to sore eyes."

And all of a sudden I think: Wait a minute! Does that mean when someone says "You're a sight for sore eyes" that I'm something they can't bear to look at?! Have I been misunderstanding this phrase my whole life? Was that a disguised INSULT this whole time??!!

Well, before I got too worked up about it I dropped everything and took time out of my incredibly busy day to search the internet for the answer to this thought-provoking yet puzzling predicament I was pondering. Here is what I discovered:

The "sore eyes" in the phrase "sight for sore eyes" refers to eyes that have been worrying, stressing and crying over someone's absence and are happy to see them now that they have appeared safe and sound.

The "sore eyes" that can't bear the presence of the bright light of truth have probably been up all night drinking, smoking things and disobeying laws, and are waking up in the city jail feeling not so happy about it. They probably don't wanna hear any loud music either for a while.

Anyway....that was kinda bugging me so I thought I would clear it up. I should strive to be a bright light of truth, and not a sore sight in the eyes of God, but a sight for sore eyes is okay when a loved one has been concerned about me. I should maybe give 'em a call once in a while to let them know I'm not dead or in trouble again.

"THE FREEBIRD FAIL"

I have often heard people refer to a certain skill or quirk they have as a "super power." You know, like: "Oh, finding great parking spots is my secret super power!" Funny things like that. Well, in all seriousness, I have discovered that I too have a super power and, like a lot of comic book characters, I'm am really not so sure I want mine.

Strange and unbelievable as it may seem, I have the remarkable and uncanny ability to remember every stupid thing I have ever done in my entire life. And very little else. Not nice accomplishments. Just every little embarrassing failure. From childhood to yesterday, the only memories that stick in my brain are the idiotic ones.

Here's a sad but interesting example: Sometime in the 1980s my girlfriend and I were driving down the highway. As we passed by this church I saw a sign advertising a Christian rock concert being held there that night. So later we go back to see this concert. Turns out the band is none other than "VISION," a band that Billy Powell, world-renowned pianist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with for a short time. Amazing, right? What incredible serendipity!

After the concert, we were allowed to approach the band members to ask questions and get autographs, etc. So here I am, meeting a straight-up rock-and-roll LEGEND from the "One More From the Road" "Play it pretty for Atlanta" certified triple platinum Double-Live Lynyrd Skynyrd album, and as he is scratching out his John Hancock, my nervous dumbass says, "So...uh...I guess...I guess you're pretty glad you weren't on the plane that night..."

WHAT....THE ACTUAL....F-F-F-....

See, being an ignorant moron I just assumed everyone that was on the Freebird had been killed, so if Billy was sittin' here then....

IDIOT!!!! BUT WHY WOULD YOU EVEN....??!!

Luckily...LUCKILY....by the grace of God Almighty and because brother Billy was trying really, REALLY hard at the time to be a good Christian man, he just handed me the autograph and said in his deep, polite, calm Southern voice, "Nah, man. I was on the plane."

And as horrific, excruciating flashes of falling from the sky, friends and band mates screaming in terror, a devastating impact, injury and death, the helpless loneliness of a nighttime swamp after the crash....all swirled around the back of Billy's mind, he simply turned to the next person in line and forgot about me forever.

But I remember him. I don't recall anything else about that concert but for 40 years I have gone over and over that absolutely UNFORGIVABLY stupid thing I said. That's my super power. Don't remember the year, what church or where, who all was there, what songs were played or anything. But I remember the feeling deep in my soul after that brief exchange, the harsh realization: He was on the plane. HE WAS ON THE PLANE! That memory has stayed with me forever.

Anyway, Billy was a cool Christian dude and I think he got back with Skynyrd when they reunited. I kept his autograph all these years, and this story is what it always reminds me of. A great musician who tolerated a dumb kid and didn't murder him when he should have. God's forgiveness when we sure as hell don't deserve it. According to the internet Billy died young - just 56 - in 2009.

RIP Billy....and sorry for me being a dumbass....