The Great Southern California Drought seems awfully wet nowadays. I read that it will take several wet years to rescue SoCal from its drought condition, but you have to give it to January 2017 for trying to do it all at once. Last Friday’s rains produced multiple mudslides that effectively turned Malibu into a peninsula in advance of the heavy rains that hit on Sunday. If the Pepperdine deer and coyotes start lining up in pairs, you will find me consulting Waze for the nearest Noah.
So it appears that the prayers for rain produced so much of it that the world around here is literally falling apart. Figures. Life’s strong suit does not appear to be producing a happy medium.
While not below the poverty line, I grew up relatively poor. In the early 1980s, my dad was laid off from his longtime work as a butcher in a meatpacking plant and took a part-time job at a neighborhood grocery store. I knew the store well, having built my baseball and football card collection from its candy counter thirty cents and one pack at a time. When my loving father found out that I liked a particular brand of candy, he would bring home so much of it in brown paper bags that I couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. You don’t get upset with a dad who loves you that much. But you do start secretly feeding Laffy Taffy to stray animals.
Moderation is as rare as happiness is elusive, and there just may be a connection between the two. And if the current state of American politics is instructive, moderation is less popular than ever. Extreme is in, and moderation is out.
Imagine changing the names of television shows and events from extreme to moderate:
- Moderate Home Makeover (ABC)
- Moderate RVs (Travel Channel)
- Moderate Weight Loss (ABC)
- Moderate Couponing (TLC)
- Moderate Homes (HGTV)
- Moderate Cuisine (The Food Network)
- The Moderation Games (ESPN)
Not really ratings grabbers.
But the ancient philosophers may have been on to something when they advised moderation. “Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.” (Cicero) “If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.” (Epicetus) “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.” (Proverbs 25:16, ESV; see also Laffy Taffy, above.)
As this blessed rain falls and the hills collapse, I guess I’m just thinking that the ancient virtue, Temperance, deserves a second look.
Starting to Look Up 