Blog 387 – 08.27.2016

Perhaps you are wondering why I picked http://www.theencouragingword.co for my blog domain. Well, first of all because theencouragingword.com was already taken. I understand a minister from South Carolina has that site and I wish him only the highest and best as I do myself and everyone. But why that phrase, the encouraging word? It is from a song I loved as a boy, Home On The Range. The line goes, “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.” That is not surprising since cowboys lived pretty solitary lives and cows have a pretty limited vocabulary and are for the most part contented with plenty of grass and water. But life in the city is more often where seldom is heard an encouraging word, hence the title for my blog and its main aim to get out to as many as possible the encouraging word.

My brother and I always woke up early Saturday mornings. This was a sore spot for my dad who believed hard working men should be allowed to sleep late on the weekend. But we, like most children cherished our days away from school and wanted to savor every moment. Children are so much more in touch with the spirit of life.

Back in the olden days before The Cartoon Channel, Saturday was cartoon day. And every Saturday morning in Chattanooga before the cartoons started there was Western Theater with a Roy Rogers movie one week and a Gene Autry movie the next. So after watching the test pattern for thirty minutes and then another thirty minutes of FCC mandated public information announcements we got to see our western heroes ride the range and then cartoons till noon and slam out the door we went to play our hearts out till dark. At dusk mom would yell for us to come in for super and for a bath to wash away the granny beads around grimy necks – good times. Roy and Gene both must have sung that Home On The Range song. And at the end of every Roy Rogers Show, reruns of which also aired Saturday mornings, Roy and Dale sang:

Happy trails to you until we meet again
Happy trails to you keep smiling until then
Happy trails to you till we meet again.

Those were some pretty encouraging words from home on the range. Thanks, Roy and Dale. It is my intention to string a few words together each day, Monday through Friday, to continue this important work of encouraging my brothers and sisters, my friends and my fans. By the way, I am your devoted fan. Those Foster Grants, don’t fool me, I have seen through your disguise, you divine being you. Look in the mirror lately? Yeah, you still got it.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White