Govern your thoughts, words

Cooler temperatures were ushered in by torrential rains this past weekend. The calendar says autumn, but temperatures have, until this week, remained summer-like. Early morning temperatures this week were in the mid-40s, a harbinger of things to come.

Walnuts, hickory nuts and black walnuts pound the ground, littering the lawn and wreaking havoc on lawn mower blades. Leaves are beginning to fall, but few have turned the stereotypical fall colors of red, orange, purple and gold, although there is a dogwood tree nearby that has leaves beginning to turn red. The beautiful crimson red dogwood berries litter the ground, cast there by the heavy rains.

Farmers work diligently to get in the final hay crops.

Mums and pumpkins are for sale at local produce vendors and stores.

Autumn, like spring, is a transitional season taking us from the searing heat of summer to the icy cold of winter. Ironically, people still complain. Those who are griping about the heat in the summer, will soon be griping about the cold of winter.

Funny, isn’t it, how we complain about things we cannot affect. I, too, am guilty, and often in superficial conversation with people in passing. Whether I prefer cool or warm temperatures really doesn’t change what is and I need to work harder at governing my tongue to speak words of edification.

A poem that I’ve read often, was written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971), although I’ve seen it attributed to others. I’ve read that it’s also used in Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12step programs. It expresses a wise sentiment and it would behoove each of us to consider memorizing it and adopting the expressed attitude.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

Interestingly, the philosopher W.W. Bartley wrote a “Mother Goose” rhyme expressing the same sentiment:

“For every ailment under the sun

There is a remedy, or there is none;

If there be one, try to find it;

If there be none, never mind it.”

The weather is definitely something neither you nor I can affect. We can prepare and plan based on weather forecasts and it would be wise to do so by packing an umbrella and a jacket when necessary. It may seem like a small thing, complaining about the weather, but it could be that changing our attitude about that may plant a seed that may start a harvest of uplifting thoughts and words.

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Editor’s note: Annette Beard, managing editor of The Times of Northeast Benton County, is a native of Louisiana, who moved to northwest Arkansas in 1980 to work for the Benton County Daily Record. She has nine children, five sons-in-law, nine grandsons and three granddaughters. She can be reached at abeard@nwadg.com