Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1271660
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JULY 22-28, 2020 UCW 19 ALL TOGETHER Let's face it. No one has had it easy during this pandemic. Your newspaper is reporting from the front lines the local stories of COVID-19 and its painful shutdown. We thank our talented journalists. But we've lost business, too. Like us, you're probably saying enough is enough. Let's work together as businesses reopen. We've got the engaged audience to share your advertising messages. Our ad staff stands ready to help. Newspapers are your best investment because we care most about local. NEWSPAPER POWER. Print, Digital & Social Solutions for your advertisers. NOW. Design by Metro Creative Graphics, Inc. www.upandcomingweekly.com Design by Metro Creative Graphics, Inc. OPINION Lessons from loading lumber by DAN DEBRULER As I helped a man load lumber onto his truck, I couldn't help but wonder what he was going to build and if he had help lined up to build it. He appeared to be several years older than me, and somewhat frail. If he were to place any one of the massive 4x4s on the other end of a seesaw, I'm fairly certain he'd be stuck in the air until help arrived. He was grumbling a bit about how it took me so long to get there, obviously unaware that I was a passing cus- tomer and not a store employee. I just smiled and asked if he wanted a flag for the wood extending beyond the tailgate of his truck. As I moved on to the load I was buying for my own project, I was a little saddened by what had transpired. Not for the grumbling, not for the lifting and loading, but for the realization that in the era we both live in, we take too much for granted. The man had been waiting for assistance the store offered, and yet was struggling to load it him- self when I happened to walk out the door with a huge load of wood, easily twice the length of the bed of my truck. Several men, younger and stronger look- ing than me had passed him by as they were coming or going, yet none stopped to offer assistance. Maybe, like the man himself, they thought a store employee would be along soon. Whatever the case, the only right thing to do was help. The only choice for me was to do good. In Galatians 6:9 it says, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." In other words, what goes around comes around. Be kind, be patient and do good in the world. God will make sure you are rewarded. The words of the Apostle Paul in that Bible passage aren't meant to reduce doing good to the cause and effect of karma, but rather to encourage and remind us that God sees us. He knows our thoughts and actions and prom- ises he will take care of us beyond any of the good we do. Here's some truth for your day: Things won't always fall into place. Every kindness will not be returned. Even so, the attitude we develop as we persevere on the worst of days will buoy us well above the water line on all the others. As we learn to live and love the way we were meant to, we easily begin to recognize the good in others, and respond with the best of ourselves. What goes around comes around. Be kind, be patient and do good in the world. God will make sure you are rewarded. DAN DEBRULER, General Manager, WCLN. Comments? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-484-6200.