How High's The Water, Mama?
The imminent danger held us in fear as we backed up the road, not even daring to turn around in what was obviously a very precarious situation. Only after backtracking to the turnoff did we see what we had failed to notice before: a sign that clearly warned of the high waters and the closed ferry.
There had been other warnings, but each had been ignored. The creeping advance of the water was one, but I had driven through potholes with more water than that ... or so I thought. The lack of traffic was also a bit unusual, but traffic comes and goes. If there had really been peril ahead, surely the driver of the lone red truck that we had met would have signaled us. And flooded fields were a common sight. No big deal.
Each warning had effectively been neutralized by a rationalization ... and the water on the wheels rose a bit with every one. After all, we were in a hurry, and the ferry was the quickest way home -- the path of least resistance, so to speak.
As a nation, are we in another "high water" situation today, merrily puttering down another path of least resistance despite of the warning signs? I fear so.
Just recently, a very liberal congressman surprised me with his opinion that it would have been better not to have released the overflow of details describing President Clinton's personal indiscretions to the internet and to the media. Even this one who vigorously supports morally divisive "rights" feels that we have crossed a line that even he would have shied away from.
I'm inclined to agree. Perhaps there are some with a need to know, but not anyone with Internet access. Children included.
But we've been inching down this road of moral gradualism for quite some time now. Movies, reading material, and music have continued to pipe their siren songs of sensuality with an ever-increasing tempo ... and we've fallen into a stupor under the spell. Now the floodgates seem to be opening, and what can stop the rising waters?
Certainly not the time-honored political game of Blame-The-Other-Guy-And-Pass-The-Buck. Though elected officials can (and should) help, they are no substitute for personal discretion in the activities in which we and our children engage. As individuals, we must begin to backtrack to the turnoff. And soon, or we'll be swept away in the deluge.
How high's the water, Mama? Better check them tars agin!
Copyright 1998 James McAlister
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