The American Spectator : In the Moment

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In the Moment

By Jay D. Homnick on 5.27.11 @ 6:05AM

Not everyone emerged this week to say they're perfectly fine.

They found a lady Thursday who had been listed as missing all week in the tornado-wracked city of Joplin, Missouri. She was sitting in front of the wreckage she once called her home. Placidly stroking her cat as she sat on an old beach chair, she told a visiting reporter who showed her the list: "Oh, my! You can take my name off now; I am perfectly fine.”

This capped a strange series of events around the country, all of them leading us to reflect on the power of the momentary event to alter the course of one's life. Some of these stories could be narrated by beginning with the old cliché: "There I was, walkin' down the street, mindin' my own business, when suddenly…” Others involved bad personal choices in the line of: "There I was, on top of the world, with a wonderful life, beautiful family and friends, when unaccountably I…”

Joplin came first and other Midwestern cities followed, as the whirlwind disrupted the breezy flow of life in the heartland. Homes, businesses, farms, nurtured by the dew of human perspiration, had once flourished in these environs. Then came devastation, a tempestuous visitation of all that is harshest in the natural realm. It blasted through in an eldritch cacophony and then there was silence amid the ruins.

This was the ultimate act of God, inuring to man via his lot rather than his will. Man's power of choice enters only in the aftermath, as he determines his degree of acceptance of the past, his degree of resolve to build the future.

Contrast this with the power of man to destroy himself. Dominique Strauss-Kahn comes for a few days to New York City, a plutocrat who spends more on a suit than most of us spend on a vacation, who spends more on one night in a hotel than most of us spend on our entire wardrobe. He is the acting head of the International Monetary Fund and the leading Socialist politician in France. He has not yet announced his candidacy for President of France, but already he leads in the polls with 30 percent support.

Then he comes out of the shower in his pricey hotel suite and the chambermaid catches his fancy. He follows the impulse into antisocial behavior and from there into criminality, and before you know it, he is the ex-head of the IMF, indicted for sexual assault and confined to house arrest awaiting trial. (This incident fascinated me in particular, because I once endured a week of stalking by a hotel chambermaid, complete with love notes, slips of paper with her phone number and following me down the corridor making seductive sounds.)

From there to Elizabeth Smart, whose life was upended by human volition, except that the chaos was wreaked upon her, not by her. We all remember the story of this sweet girl from a homey family in Utah, who was abducted by a home invader who came in through a window and took her out through a door. She was found and rescued months later, her innocence trampled but her spirit resilient. This week she delivered a proud testament to her own recovery as the court sentenced her kidnaper and rapist to be confined for the remainder of his days on earth.

This was an act of man, but it struck Elizabeth's life like an act of God. Her moment of upheaval stretched into months of desperation, and hopefully she can sustain the path of healing.

Which brings us to John Edwards, a man who nearly became our Vice President. This week the United States Department of Justice recommended he be prosecuted for various violations attendant upon his affair with a campaign aide in 2008. Not long ago he was one of the most respected political figures in the most powerful country in the world and now people brush past him brusquely without shaking his hand.

There is no more joy in seeing Strauss-Kahn and Edwards brought down by venery than in seeing Elizabeth Smart trying to rebuild her dignity or in seeing the old lady in Joplin cradling her cat amid the havoc. The continuity of life is difficult to maintain. We try to control the parts that are ours, always mindful that we can be quickly leveled by the parts which are beyond our control.

King David said (Psalms 27:1): "Do not boast about tomorrow, because you do not know what a day might bring.” King Solomon added (Ecclesiastes 9:8): "At all times your clothes should be white…” Perhaps it is time for us to inspire ourselves with a variation on the classic bumper sticker: "Today may not be the first day of the rest of your life…” Let us turn things around and suddenly, unaccountably, do something especially grand. This is our moment to shine…

About the Author

Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human Events. Here he performs his original composition, "Buy You (Bayou) a Drink".

Letter to the Editor View all comments (49) | Leave a comment

Appleby| 5.27.11 @ 6:45AM

I got home from work at 9:00 pm last night, had a cup of tea and answered email from my sister, and went to bed. My job is a lot like the infantry... lots of waiting around followed by bursts of pure terror and hysteria. Today will be another of the same.

Every morning I pray that I will win the lottery and be able to retire to the front porch and peace. And do not tell me that I should have saved and planned; I did -- and lost all my savings in three different stock market crashes and recessions. From that last one forward I have been treating each day as if it is my last, and building memories instead of trying to save for another future in which someone else takes all my money.

I am not perfectly fine. I am just soldiering on. Its what we do.

Alan Brooks| 5.30.11 @ 8:16PM

Self pity is silly, Appleby.
All save for sovereign individuals are crucified sometimes.

Frisbee| 5.31.11 @ 9:11PM

Don't envy the lottery winners Appleby. Most of them end up destroying themselves.

PCP Smoker| 5.27.11 @ 7:26AM

BS. The two shouldn't not even be mentioned in the same sentence. I take joy in seeing the spirit of that lady in Joplin and Miss Smart. I take more joy in seeing a thoroughly repugnant creep like John Edwards revealed for the scumbag that he is. Even more, I take joy in seeing the shock of those who believed in the garbage Edwards was putting out.

Prester John| 5.27.11 @ 7:50AM

I am always amazed how easily so many people were taken in by Edwards. A 10 year could tell he was a phony a mile away.

I guess it was the hair.

Mike Hawk| 5.28.11 @ 8:34PM

As a Veteran I learned to spot a BS artist a long way off. Edwards was one from the start. I knew for sure when I saw a video of the shyster in a conversation with a wad of gum and the juvenile cracking coming from his pie hole. Only crass impolite dopes do that. Edwards was all ego and greed and it showed as the slip and fall legal phoney he was.

beebop| 5.29.11 @ 9:39AM

Amen! I am trying to think of anyone who would have called him "respected." Other than 0bama when his angled for his endorsement ....

Melvin| 5.27.11 @ 8:02AM

Sometimes we need to take a break from catastrophe. The world is going to come to and end, John Edwards tell us that he is going to commit suicide rather than go to prison, and we as Appleby puts it, "Soldier on," We have to, because it is called life. My wife who is a Roman Catholic while chatting over morning coffee, thinks its a sign of worse things to come, because Armageddon won't come all at once.
I peer over my laptop, "Dear, we have always had tornadoes, more people live in the area called Tornado Alley, plus the media isn't doing any us any favors hyping the news in a hysterical twist. Not to worry dear, same thing could happen here."
Unfortunately my meteorological theorem doesn't allay her fears.
Strauss-Kahn, Elizabeth Smart Trial hopefully a small measure of justice will come from all this, but thank the Gods that either of these two aren't in California because the US Supreme Court says, that California has to turn loose 36k prisoners loose because of overcrowding.
Living in North Carolina, I am taking a macabre satisfaction in watching John Edwards squirm like the snake that he is, but then my mind as a parent wonders what will become of children. Maybe it is just as well his rotten soul will go to prison, because he kids are old enough to despise him, for what he did to their mother.
Well my fellow humans wherever you may be, its the closing of another week and we are still here.
My wife's wisdom, God bless her, thinks that the world is getting to high tech. and we are forgetting how to be human. I look over the steering wheel, and see a woman texting on her cell phone as she blasts through the red light.
"Yes, dear, your absolutely correct."

Peter McGrath| 5.27.11 @ 3:27PM

Thanks for that.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

donserge| 5.27.11 @ 8:06AM

The uninformed American voter will often elect (and continue to support) liars. NC woke up after Edwards election...They would have never returned him to the senate. I wonder what the country will do about Obama?

R Martin| 5.27.11 @ 8:07AM

Dead right, except for the amazement part. Look how many people were taken-in by Obama even though his past clearly revealed a personal philosophy which most Americans would normally find repugnant. The electorate has demonstrated time and again an uncanny ability to choose second rate schmucks. Look closely at the halls of congress.

R Martin| 5.27.11 @ 8:09AM

Sorry, I was replying to Prester John.

Patrick| 5.28.11 @ 6:01AM

Also: look who was voted/caucused to go up against Obama. Yeeesh.

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.27.11 @ 8:31AM

My wife asked me an interesting question the other day.
"Who will you support if Sarah doesn't choose to run?"
Boy, that wrinkled my brow.
Then the light-bulb went on. "I will back whoever Sarah backs."
She has the best "smeller" of corruption I know in politics.

Melvin| 5.27.11 @ 9:57AM

Very wise answer my esteemed friend, very wise answer.

Occam's Tool| 5.27.11 @ 1:15PM

Indeed, Old Texican.

Peter McGrath| 5.27.11 @ 3:30PM

Here, here! Palin needs to go for it, punditocracy be damned ...

John Navratil| 5.28.11 @ 3:11PM

Thanks, Ken! Lot's of truth in that!

If people would get past "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and "A Minute to Win it" and remember two things: "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" and "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is", I think they would smell the corruption as well.

Dee See| 5.27.11 @ 9:06AM

--Great piece.

Putting aside the unmentioned RED China
eco TREASON op, and the Fukishima world
nuclear disaster------UH
---shouldn't someone be posting articles
covering the unprecedented, court sanctioned
destruction of the 4th Amendment ----and its
roots back to Magna Carta (search and siezure)
out in Indiana?

C Smith| 5.27.11 @ 9:41AM

And Yeshua Ben David (Jesus Son of David) said (Matthew 6:25-34): Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

buckeyeman| 5.27.11 @ 11:24AM

I've heard this quotation many times. So, C Smith, what do YOU think it means. Was "Yeshua" really advising us to live like sparrows? This passage makes absolutely no sense to me.

Michael Crites| 5.27.11 @ 11:40AM

Doesn't seem too complicated to me. We are being told to focus on the things God is wanting done and not to focus on the things we want done. If we do this, following Him and His instructions and leadings, God will take care of our needs.

A child is only concerned only with its own wants (and he wants it NOW). Focusing on what God wants keeps us from being insufferably self-centered - and the civilization we live in benefits as well.

Just my .02 worth ...

Gary| 5.27.11 @ 1:19PM

My little two year old granddaughter is a wee walking self centered ego. She is the joy of my life, a little bundle of beauty, energy, high spirits, with a me me me attitude. She is being taught by good parents so that she will become a kind, giving, and considerate human being. We all come into the world this way, it is a survival trait, but must be tempered by upbringing, love, and discipline. Your comments are on the mark.

chuck| 5.30.11 @ 7:33AM

"Focusing on what God wants keeps us from being insufferably self-centered - and the civilization we live in benefits as well."

Never thought of it that way. Sure explains these awful politicians.

Peter McGrath| 5.27.11 @ 3:41PM

I might add, Buck, that if you afforded just a tad more faith in God's loving control over your life - and I mean control over EVERYTHING in your life ("Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Luke 12:7) - the above passage might resonate more with you.

Luke heard a similar sermon and described in Luke 12:22 - 32.

Have a Good'n!

Pelligrino| 5.28.11 @ 4:15AM

To several who posted above: C. Smith, M. Crites, Gary, and P. McGrath.

Thank you. Yes, right on. Thank you for the passage from Matthew. One of the great, great foundational truths of this life (and what this Am. Spectator's article author is offering to us).

Buckeyeman, I hope you focus here on what others are sharing with you. Gain this understanding & wisdom, and life will hit a brand new high plateau that you have never before known.

God is in control. Jesus never fails.

Gary| 5.27.11 @ 1:10PM

Truer words were never spoken. I have heard that there is a Jewish expression: "Man plans and God laughs." I learned that lesson the hard way when I lost my beautiful daughter at age 28 in an accidental drug overdose. My lessons were not yet over when six months ago I lost my dear wife of 41 years. she walked out of our recently purchased home in Arkansas where we had moved from Louisiana to walk her paint horse. Forty minutes later I found her on the ground in our pasture, killed somehow by a kick to her heart. Just that quick my life as I had known it for over forty years turned upside down. I see all the things my wife such as soap, perfume, cleaners she stocked up on as she was so careful about always being stocked up on household and personal needs, all sitting there, many never to be used, and I weep at her and my innocence, even at age 65 thinking tomorrow will be there for us. The girl I met at a high school dance when I was 17, the love of my life, was gone in a flash while I was watching football. I never got to say goodbye. Such is life, but I do take comfort in that the years we had together were happy and good, despite the losses and pain we bore together. I loved and respected her until the day I lost her and always treated her like the lady she was, God bless her. When I see the rich and powerful and not so rich or powerful destroy the goodness in their lives it perplexes me. If it is God's will that she go on, I can accept that, but I am grateful that I was not the instrument of her end, and can live what time is left to me in peace.

cuban pete| 5.27.11 @ 2:08PM

Gary,
Your daughter, your wife and you are in my prayers.
"For those of us still on earth,straining to make something of ourselves,it seems there is no weaning away from the people we love and lose: they are always there,dissolved into the completeness of eternity, waiting patiently..and I suspect,indifferently...for the little resurrection that is memory."
Terry Teachout, 2008

Peter McGrath| 5.27.11 @ 3:44PM

Gary - thanks for sharing your story. God Bless You!

Occam's Tool| 5.27.11 @ 5:26PM

G-d Bless, Gary. I am so sorry for your loss. But she knew you loved her.

Appleby| 5.27.11 @ 7:42PM

I think of my Daddy nearly every day and always picture him on the front porch of his Mansion in Heaven, which is a comfy old farmhouse with a veranda that goes on 3 sides, with all his brothers and his mom and the wives and children who have come along -- having a chance at last to sit down and take it easy and yarn with the folks he loves.

Gary, I hope you have a picture like that in your minds eye too; although we miss them we will all meet again by and by.

chuck| 5.30.11 @ 7:55AM

Gary,

So sorry for your loss. There simply are no other words.
Life is full of incredible joy, and heart breaking sorrow. You can not have one without the other.
My prospective on life changed when my wife was diagnosed at a young age with a couple of chronic illnesses. Someday they may take her, but I pray it won't be anytime soon. It really makes you appreciate every moment, taking full advantage of the good days, and getting through the not so good.
I've got a friend that lost his wife to cancer a few years back. When he first found out, we talked about dealing with the medical treatments(chemo, which my wife had been through), and my advise was to make the most out of the good days, which will help you get through the bad ones.
I think too many people get too wrapped up in themselves, and lose track of the big picture. It's not about being famous, or rich, or powerful. The love we have for our family and friends is so much more important. Lose your house, your job, your fortune, you can get it back through hard work. Lose a loved one............

Occam's Tool| 5.27.11 @ 1:16PM

Jay,

so you were stalked by a chambermaid? Are you sure you shouldn't be writing for Penthouse Letters?

Skippy| 5.27.11 @ 5:32PM

Perverse as the notion is, I would like to hear more of that story.

Claudia Monteverdi| 5.28.11 @ 12:53PM

My Dear Occam,

Damned straight..I'd stalk Jay every chance I'd get...of course if I were to catch him the story is on sale to the highest bidder..aren't those the new rules? isn't that the "new morality" , to quote George Bernard Shaw? (or was it Artie Shaw, I always get those two guys confused)
Love, Claudia

Dee See| 5.28.11 @ 1:31AM

Edwards is a side show of a side show.

It's the EUGENICS, Globalist, RED China eco
(economic) treason and American takedown op.

ALLLLL else is DIS------traction.

claudia moneverdi| 5.28.11 @ 7:24AM

Dear Jay,
As soon as Ii stop weeping over your touching, tornado-wracked article (how the Hell do we wrack a tornado?) , I will offer my praise for your powerful words..But first....may I respectfully differ with your absurd adjudication of L'affaire Strauss-Kahn..did I say respectfully? Look, here are the facts as we know them.....nothing more...A young African Moslem lady runs out of the mostlavish suite in the hotel in which she works as a chambermaid, screaming "RAPE"....The security cameras dutifully record her exit..she makes all the proper telephone calls, to her brother and a pal.....the bloated socialist aristocrat who she says had performed this heinous deed is prompltly arrested, perp walked and comdemened by an eager young prosecutor and the press..who focuses upon the price of his hotel digs---(must be guilty iof the sonovabitch paid so much), a sentimenmt sadly echoed by you, the Brilliant One.......Yup, the headlines proclaim--DNA confirms it all.....Of course the DNA discovery conforms with a history of consetual sex..does it not, Jay my hero????....meanwhile, back at the situation room, a team of 4 lawyers, now joined by the ACLU, are preparing a multimillion buck civil suit and are preparing for the triple crown of payoffs....does one not smell a rat here?
Is one not even a teensy bit Rat-Wracked?

Love and Kisses,
Claudia

John Navratil| 5.28.11 @ 3:19PM

claudia moneverdi,

I share your sentiments. It looks bad for DSK and he may well be the slime he is portrayed to be. And it could be something else, entirely. We are wise the let the scene play out and not rush to our own early judgement.

Oldefarte| 5.28.11 @ 1:35PM

Speaking of Edwards and Strauss-Kahn types, I'm reminded of what former congressman Armey from Texas once said concerning the Clinton WH escapades [that if he/Armey had done something similar, that he/Armey would have found himself lyi ng on the floor bleeding to death from a gunshot wound, and his wife would have been standing over him saying NOW HOW DO I RELOAD THIS DAMN THING???????

WRJonas| 5.28.11 @ 4:47PM

Gary,your story is so touchingly human and terrible we are all reminded how frail and temporary life is.
May God have mercy on your soul and imagine your joy when you are joined in paradise.

Claudia Monteverdi| 5.29.11 @ 3:53PM

CHANGE OF SUBJECT
MISTER O'BAMA OF COUNTY CORK, in his address in Joplin, has just said "We come to CELEBRATE the deaths of...etc.." does one "celebrate" death? Am I missing something?
bewildered,
Claudia

Norman Conquest| 5.30.11 @ 10:23AM

John Edwards, Teddy Kennedy, Barak Obama, John Kerry, Al Franken, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, I could go on and on naming prominent Democrat vermin but I'm sure you get the picture.

DaveS| 5.30.11 @ 12:17PM

Don't forget Arnold - damned because he behaved like a Kennedy.

DaveS| 5.30.11 @ 12:19PM

Update on Joplin: if ever there was a campaign stop, Joplin yesterday was it. Why the shouting and railing? Against Whom?

CLAUDIA MONTEVERDI| 5.30.11 @ 11:18PM

Dear Dave
you ask: ..."Why the shouting and railing? Against Whom?"
That's what them royals do..yell at the wind... here's Old King Lear:
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
Love, Claudia