2002 Soap Box Archives

Reflections On Turning Sixty-Six

October 28, 2002 will mark the sixty-sixth edition of my birthday.
Don’t ask me how it got here so fast because I can’t tell you. It’s
just truly amazing how fast old father time is marching these days. It
seems just a short while ago that we were celebrating my 65th.

As I look back across my 66 years I have to believe that I’ve been alive
in the most exciting century the world has ever known. I’ve seen the
Second World War, the Korean War and the VietNam War come and go and
it’s true that war is hell. Sometimes necessary, but hell never the
less.

I’ve seen the advent of the jet plane, television, wonder drugs, super
highways, push button telephones, space travel, rock and roll,
computers, power steering and the miniskirt.

I’ve been around for the population explosion, the British Invasion, the
Me Generation, cell phones, the Rubics Cube and tiramisu.
I’ve seen the demise of the Soviet Union, the ruination of Cuba, the
fall of the Berlin Wall and the assassination of an American President.
I’ve been around for for the beginnings of smog, nuclear waste,
The Greenhouse Effect and AIDS.

It’s been an interesting half century plus. Some good things and some
bad things, at times stressful, aggravating, sometimes downright
frustrating but never ever boring.

In the years since 1936 we’ve seen Babe Ruth’s home run record broken,
the incredible speed of the NFL and the game of basketball raised to a
whole new level by the likes of Michael Jordan.

Knowledge has increased to exponential proportions, taller
skyscrapers have been built and man has actually set foot on the moon.
I guess a question that a lot of you would ask me is what I’ve learned
during all these exciting and fast moving years.

Well I’ve learned that there will always be good people and bad people.
I’ve learned that if good people do nothing that evil flourishes.
I’ve learned that family is precious and that a job worth doing is a job
worth doing well.
I’ve learned that might doesn’t always make right and that even the
most dedicated people can make mistakes.
I’ve learned that integrity begins with honesty and that the truth is
always best thing.
I’ve learned never to judge a person by the color of their skin
and that our society has many facets.
I’ve learned that wealth without peace is meaningless and that children
are just about the most precious people on earth.
I’ve learned that success is pyramid shaped with plenty of room at the
bottom and very little at the top.
I’ve learned that opportunity still knocks, dedication pays off and
dreams do come true.
I’ve learned that some of the most wonderful sounds on earth are the
breeze whispering through the boughs of a long leaf pine tree, rain on a
tin roof, a distant train whistle, the soft nickering of a young colt,
the gurgling of a brook and a baby’s laughter.

And most important thing of all I’ve learned is that hate destroys, love
restores, faithfulness perseveres, a good hug helps heal and Almighty
God always has been and always will be in charge of the universe and all
it contains.
Who are we to question Him?

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

 

©Copyright The Charlie Daniels Band