Cooperative Living January 2020 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 74, No. 2
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
STEVEN JOHNSON
Acting Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
JOHN GROTT
Production Coordinator
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Design & E-Media Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
NINA JACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Email: editor@vmdaec.com
Web: co-opliving.com
To change your subscription, please
contact your electric cooperative.
Published by the VA, MD & DE
Association of Electric Cooperatives
FLETCHER B. JONES
Chairman
PATRICIA S. DOREY
Vice Chair
RUSSELL G. BROWN
Secretary/Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson,
Jr., A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC;
George N. Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E.
Arnold, Micheal E. Malandro, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett,
Steven A. Harmon, Community; James E. Huffman, Jeff
M. Ahearn, Craig-Botetourt; Patricia S. Dorey, J. William
Andrew, Delaware; Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee Jr.,
Mecklenburg; Russell G. Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck;
Wade C. House, Stan C. Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale
McNiel, Randell Myers, Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick,
Casey J. Logan, Prince George; Linda R. Gray, Kent D. Farmer,
Rappahannock; Larry C. Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings,
Shenandoah Valley; Frank W. Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards,
Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
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National Advertising Representative: AMP,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of AMP network of
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COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
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issues, by the Va., Md. & Del. Association of Electric
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encounter non-compliance with these standards,
they are asked to inform the Editor.
Timely Words, Timeless Words
Gerald L. Baliles, Virginia's 65th governor who served from 1986-1990, passed away in
October at age 79. During his governorship and his career as a lawyer and civic leader,
he worked successfully, on a bipartisan basis, for improvements in areas that benefit all
Virginians: education, transportation, economic development. His efforts on rural workforce
development contributed to training opportunities such as Southside Virginia Community
College's Power Line Worker Training School.
A quarter-century ago, during New Year's 1993-94, he attended a retreat and completed a writing assignment,
which we publish below. His words are perhaps more relevant today than when he composed them.
As the state legislatures in Virginia and Maryland convene this month for their 2020 sessions, we thought our
readers would enjoy Gov. Baliles' thoughtful words. Near the end of his remarks, he writes that " the measure of life
is not in its length, but in the length of its shadow. " May his words cast a powerful, positive shadow far into the future.
'If These Were My Last Words'
- by the Honorable Gerald L. Baliles
I would charge those who remain to
remember that life goes on, and they
must go forward, recalling Jefferson's
admonition that the earth belongs
to the living, that while we should
remember our past, and learn from it,
we must not become prisoners of it.
I would charge those who remain to make
the diversity of our nation a source of strength
rather than a force for division.
I would charge those who remain to keep our
country always free and restless, energetic,
curious about our physical world and our inner
space, committed to faith and families as well
as fun and fortune, to social development
as well as economic progress.
I would urge those who remain to remember
that the measure of a civilization is its degree
of enlightenment, its commitment to education,
the promotion of the arts, the treatment of the
less fortunate; its seriousness of purpose and
yet its ability to laugh at its foibles and the
ironies of life.
I would charge those who remain to remember
that we are citizens of a culture as well as a
country, and that there are obligations that go
with that status; and that among those are the
promotion of learning, the preservation of
democratic values, and the protection of our
people against violence and discrimination.
I would charge those who remain to remember
that learning comes more from listening than
lecturing, that there is a difference between
discussing and demanding; between reasoning
and reacting.
For life is a license: to be lived fully and forcefully;
to make a difference in the world of change
that has so telescoped time and distance and
blurred the distinction between information
and knowledge, between words and wisdom.
So, I would charge those who remain to embrace
change, not fear it; to take its measure, determine
its direction and understand its dimensions;
for change is constant and often chaotic;
but if it can be harnessed it can be shaped for
the good of humanity.
Finally, I would charge those who remain
to remember that a civilization must be civilized,
that civility must be cultivated, for it is the social
glue that holds the fabric of our society together.
Kindness counts; good manners can move
mountains.
The power of passion and the forces of energy
are always with us and are necessary elements
of ideas and actions, but it is reason that can
guide that passion and civility that can harness
that energy for the public good.
So, if these were my last words, I would remind
those who remain behind, that they still possess
the gift of life, the length of which is not
guaranteed; but then the measure of life is not
in its length, but in the length of its shadow.
And if life can be poetry in motion, then
remember the wistful words of Robert Frost
in " Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. "
He wrote:
But I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep,
and miles to go before I sleep.
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Cooperative Living January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living January 2020