“Godliness with satisfaction is itself great wealth." ~ I Timothy 6
The 60s were tumultuous, frenzied …
and magical. Accented by riots, sit-ins,
freedom rides, and even music festivals, young Americans marched for civil,
equal, voting, and educational rights.
They demanded an end to discrimination, poverty, war, and
pollution. It was one big youth-quake.
I was just a kid until the end of the decade; carefree,
innocent, naive. Looking back, it's a
miracle that any of us survived childhood in the 1960s!
Back then, little kids sat upfront. Drivers would fling an arm in front of you if
they had to stop suddenly. Seat belt requirements
didn’t arrive until the '70s.
Smoking was modeled as cool, healthy, and a sign of maturity. It wasn’t uncommon for kids to buy cigarettes
for their parents, no questions asked.
Cereal was breakfast; a variety of grains coated with sugar.
You could probably spoon in 4 more tablespoons
of sugar before Mom warned you about getting a bellyache. We chased it with Tang, orange powder that
magically became a sickeningly sweet neon drink.
Carpools were rare. Even
first graders were sent to school on their own once they learned the way. Parents didn’t worry about bad people lurking
along their paths. Dawdling on the way
home was allowed so you could stop off for a snack after school.
In Catholic school, we were exposed to several discipline
techniques. The classic was having a
ruler smacked across your knuckles if you spoke without permission or fell
asleep during morning Mass. God forbid you
forgot your homework.
During weekends and summer vacations, my Mom couldn't wait
to kick us out of the house so she could get on with her chores or coffee with
friends. She called us in time for
dinner, then booted us back out until the street lights came on. We were kinda like wild dogs.
The '60s was the golden age of the tan – no UV protection. Kids would slather themselves in baby oil with
iodine and use lemon juice to lighten their hair giving it that California
surfer look.
We rode bikes without helmets, played Jarts, and had BB gun
wars. TVs were stored in wooden cabinets
bulky enough to be furniture.
Responsibility for changing the 3 channels fell to the least senior kid.
These were times when a handshake could still seal a
business deal. Children were able to
just be kids to let their imaginations run wild every day. I remember those days. I miss those days. I can’t believe we survived them.
Father, help me to purge
unnecessary things in my life and simplify again. Getting rid of the access clutter will enable me
to address some other areas of cluttered baggage, worry, and stress that isn’t
necessary. Let Your promise be
enough. Amen
