Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 6, 2019

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, June 6, 2019 


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


MOUNTAIN 
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Rev. James Snyder

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LaQuetta Shamblee

MY FAVORITE DAY 
OF THE WEEK IS 
TOMORROW 

It was one of those weeks 
when the more I completed, 
the more I had to do. 
These are not my favorite kind of weeks. So 
frustrating.

During these weeks, the Gracious Mistress of 
the Parsonage finagles her infamous “Honey-
Do-List” in my direction. Because I am busy 
doing other things and distracted, I do not actually 
see what she is doing.

She can slip one of her “To-Do” jobs on to my 
schedule without my knowing it. I see it on 
my schedule and assume it is one more job to 
do. When I see it, I say to myself, “I’ll do that 
tomorrow.” Then I can move on to my next 
project.

My favorite saying has been, “Why do today 
what you can put off until tomorrow?”

It has become a habit with me. The wife will 
ask me if I have time to do something and I 
always say, “Not now, but I can do it tomorrow.” 
Of course, I am hoping that by the time 
tomorrow comes she will have forgotten that 
little job.

It seems that the older I get, the more I am 
pushing everything off until tomorrow. Then, 
when tomorrow comes, I push it off until the 
next tomorrow and soon, it is too late to do it. 
Do not let this get out, but that has been my 
plan all the time.

I seem to have gotten away with it until recently. 
I love it when a plan comes together, 
but when it falls apart, it certainly is no laughing 
matter.

Pushing things off until tomorrow does have 
a good side to it. Many things I am supposed 
to do are not that significant and if they are 
not done, there is no consequence. My life 
sometimes gets all caught up in doing things 
I do not have to do, and I know who I have to 
blame for that. Just saying.

This started when I was in grade school. When 
I had homework to do and for some reason I 
did not do it, I always promised the teacher 
that I will do it tomorrow. I got away with it 
for a while.

When I was going to grade school, the teachers 
were so very smart. I do not know what they 
are like today, but then they could catch up 
with somebody like me with very little effort. 
My teacher finally caught up with me.

“So,” my teacher said as I told her that I would 
have to do my homework tomorrow, “this is 
the tomorrow you talked about yesterday. Tomorrow 
is here and so now you must do the 
work.”

All I could do was just stare at her. Never for 
one moment did I think tomorrow would ever 
come. My teacher was a good teacher so she 
taught me that when I put things off until tomorrow, 
tomorrow finally shows up. According 
to her, my tomorrow had caught up with 
me.

I had to forfeit many recesses to catch up 
with all the home work I pushed off until 
“tomorrow.”

Of course, it was not long until my wife caught 
up to my “tomorrow strategy” like my teacher 
did.

One morning she got up a little bit before me 
and got the coffee going. I got up and stumbled 
into the kitchen. There she stood with a 
huge sign that read, “Today is your Tomorrow 
you talked about Yesterday. Welcome to 
Tomorrow.”

To see this before having my morning coffee 
was rather alarming. At first, I had no idea 
what she was talking about. Yesterday, Today, 
Tomorrow, what was she trying to say. I just 
was not on the same page as she was. In fact, I 
was not in the same book.

“What are you talking about?” I said about as 
confused as I have ever been in my life.

“Remember,” she said rather seriously, “all the 
things you told me that you would do tomorrow? 
Well, it’s tomorrow.”

Then she handed me a list with “Tomorrow’s 
To-Do List” written on the top. There were 
about a dozen things she jotted down that I 
said I would do tomorrow.

As I was reading through this list, she said to 
me, “I have you figured out. Your favorite day 
of the week is tomorrow.”

She has me figured out, alright. It is not that I 
do not like doing things; I am a procrastinator 
when it comes to certain things. My whole 
idea is, if I put something off long enough my 
wife will forget that she asked me to do it.

I looked at her and said, “You do know that it 
will take me at least three tomorrow’s to finish 
this list!”

She laughed one of her hysterical laughter’s 
and said, “Let the tomorrows be with you.”

This was the first time my tomorrows ever 
caught up with me.

As I began working on my “tomorrow tasks,” 
I happen to think of what David said in one 
of his Psalms. “This is the day which the Lord 
hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” 
(Psalm 118:24).

I need to learn how to appreciate each day and 
not push things off until tomorrow. Tomorrow 
is another day, but I certainly have no guarantee 
that I will see it. I need to learn how to “rejoice 
and be glad” in the day that is before me.

Dr. James L. Snyder, pastor of the Family of God 
Fellowship, lives with the Gracious Mistress of 
the Parsonage in Ocala, FL. Call him at 352-
687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The 
church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.


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LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN

Is it possible to pluck one newsworthy moment from Wednesday night’s 
cacophonous 10-contestant Democratic quiz show? You bet. Here we go:

Moderator Lester Holt asked, “Who here would abolish their private 
health insurance in favor of a government-run plan? Just a show of hands.”

Elizabeth Warren raised hers.

Uh oh. Warren is a solidly top-tier candidate, with a decent shot at winning 
the nomination, but, politically speaking, I seriously question whether 
someone who wants to abolish the private health care of 180 million Americans can actually 
win a general election.

Warren was the sole candidate on stage who’s polling in double digits, crowding Bernie Sanders 
for second place behind Joe Biden. Her words counted the most. She was also the sole 
person on stage (except for one-percent candidate Bill de Blasio) who called for the abolition 
of private health insurance - a stance she hadn’t articulated on the campaign trail.

“Look at the business model of an insurance company. It’s to bring in as many dollars as they 
can in premiums and to pay out as few dollars as possible for your health care. That leaves 
families with rising premiums, rising co-pays, and fighting with insurance companies to try 
to get the health care that their doctors say that they and their children need. ‘Medicare for all’ 
solves that problem,” Warren said. 

Her stance may enhance her nomination prospects,within a party that has moved leftward 
since 2016. Most grassroots Democrats likely won’t fault her critique of the private insurance 
companies, and lots of centrist swing voters with private coverage have their own complaints 
about the status quo system. 

But in politics, you don’t necessarily win awards for great intentions, or for articulating the 
most rational arguments. Warren conceded that there are “political reasons” for not supporting 
government health care, but she didn’t say what they are. So I will.

A landslide majority of Americans like their private health coverage, and they don’t want it 
taken away. Indeed, voters in general don’t like it when politicians try to take something away.

Granted, most Americans reportedly support the nebulous concept of “Medicare for all,” but 
as soon as they’re confronted with caveats, it’s a different story. According to the nonpartisan 
Kaiser Tracking Poll, “Medicare for all” gets a thumbs-up rating, 56 to 42 percent. But when 
Americans are told that the program could eliminate private health insurance - as Bernie 
Sanders’ agenda envisions, phasing out private coverage within four years - most people run 
for the hills. The numbers are suddenly reversed: 37 percent yes, 58 percent no.

Imagine what Trump and the Republicans would do with that, if Warren or Sanders were 
nominated. And on this issue, they wouldn’t even need to lie. Warren is confident about 
her powers of persuasion, but it’s hard to foresee her winning the argument for government 
health care. Fairly or not, “socialism” is a word that’s easy to demagogue, and Americans (especially 
those 45 and older, the most reliable voters) simply don’t like the word. They may be 
blind to the socialistic initiatives that they’ve long enjoyed (from Social Security to the interstate 
highway system), but that’s just political reality. Which is why candidate Kamala Harris 
has walked back her early support for abolishing private health insurance.

Amy Klobuchar, who has gotten little traction in the race thus far, said on stage Wednesday 
night: “I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance 
in four years.” 

For the Trump campaign and the GOP, that’s the perfect video clip - an acknowledgment, 
from a Democrat, that Warren would imperil “half of America.” And Joe Biden’s campaign 
is drawing a sharp contrast with Warren, endorsing the more incremental approach to health 
reform. In a statement, it said: “The Biden administration will give every American the right 
to choose a public option like Medicare.” (Clever use of “right to choose.”)

So we did get some clarity last night, at least on the top-tier issue of health care: government 
coverage versus incremental reform. Should the Democrats go boldly leftward, or practice 
prudent moderation?

Elizabeth Warren wowed the liberal base, but she may have teed up the GOP’s top attack ad 
and rendered herself less electable.

Dick Polman is the national political columnist at WHYY in Philadelphia 

MICHAEL REAGAN

DICK POLMAN

ELIZABETH WARREN WANTS TO 
ABOLISH PRIVATE HEALTH 

 INSURANCE. UH OH.


WHO’D TAKE 

RONALD REAGAN’S SIDE ON 
IMMIGRATION?

Independence Day used to be a happy day when all 
Americans put aside their partisan differences and 
came together to celebrate the miraculous birth of the 
United States of America.

But like almost everything in the upside-down era of 
President Donald Trump, our great Fourth of July holiday 
has been spoiled by ugly politics.

Whether it’s Nike deciding not to sell a running shoe with a Betsy Ross flag 
on its heel because a leftist ex-pro football player was offended, or President 
Trump being charged with militarizing the July 4th parade in Washington, 
Independence Day has become another thing to fight about for a few days on 
cable TV and in social media.

Immigration is still by far the country’s most divisive issue now.

My father loved and understood immigrants, but with the way things have 
deteriorated in Washington, I don’t know if he would have many allies on 
either side of the immigration battle today.

This Fourth of July weekend is a good time to listen again to the uplifting 
things he said about immigrants and America in 1989 during his last speech 
at the White House:

 “ … I think it’s fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a 
country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago.

 “A man wrote me and said: ‘You can go to live in France, but you cannot 
become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but 
you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any 
corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.’

 “Yes,” my father continued, “the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom 
and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, 
and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our great and special place 
in the world. 

 “For it’s the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantees 
that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed into the next century 
and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital 
area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the 
world, no country on Earth comes close. 

 “This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. 
We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people -- our 
strength -- from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so 
we continuously renew and enrich our nation.

 “While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life 
into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. 
Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation 
forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the 
cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. 

 “This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to 
new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

My father then told a story to remind his audience that “the magical, intoxicating 
power of America” was so strong it could make even a German POW 
imprisoned in the United States “fall in love with us.”

“Those who become American citizens love this country even more,” he said. 
“And that’s why the Statue of Liberty lifts her lamp to welcome them to the 
golden door. 

“It is bold men and women, yearning for freedom and opportunity, who 
leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over. 
They believe in the American dream. And over and over, they make it come 
true for themselves, for their children, and for others. They give more than 
they receive. They labor and succeed. And often they are entrepreneurs. 

“But their greatest contribution is more than economic, because they understand 
in a special way how glorious it is to be an American. They renew 
our pride and gratitude in the United States of America, the greatest, freest 
nation in the world -- the last, best hope of man on Earth.”

 Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, 
and author. 


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