By Jimmy Reed —— Bio and Archives November 13, 2020
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“The everyday cares and duties, which men call drudgery, are the weights and counterpoises of the clock of time, giving its pendulum a true vibration and its hands a regular motion; and when they cease to hang upon its wheels, the pendulum no longer swings, the hands no longer move, the clock stands still.”The saying, along with the sign I’d read that day, and the sad scene in the hospital parking lot, put me in a pensive mood. I began to ponder the real nature of thankfulness. How thankful would that little boy be if he could perform the everyday cares and duties that I consider drudgery? How happy would he be if he could control his body, as I control mine? How sad is he when he sees other children playing with each other, knowing that he will never play? How thrilled would he be if he could sit in one of my classrooms, take notes, ask questions, and be eager to study and learn — tasks that many of my students consider drudgery? How blessed and thankful would he be if the weights and counterpoises of the clock of life gave his existence a regular motion? I closed my eyes, bowed my head, and made a confession to myself and to the God who made that little boy and me: I take too much for granted; I’m not thankful enough. If I were, I would view the drudgery of life as necessary — nay, vital — to the true vibration and regular motion that measure earthly existence. They are what Wordsworth called them: the weights and counterpoises of the clock of life.
Jimmy Reed is an Oxford, Mississippi resident, Ole Miss and Delta State University alumnus, Vietnam Era Army Veteran, former Mississippi Delta cotton farmer and ginner, author, and retired college teacher.