Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

What's Happenin'

A famous Rabbi once said that people have two powers in their control, the power to create  that is to make something out of nothing  and the power to destroy  that is to make nothing out of something. I believe that the same two powers reside in each community.

Many people in our community exercise the power to create. They do it every day in small ways that often go unnoticed. They may create order in the lives of eight or ten young men by being a Cub Scout leader. Perhaps they create hope in an elderly person's life by a visit or a meal delivered. Others work on community projects and in various organizations, which labor to develop programs and events for the area. Some work to change policy or politics. Each one looks at a void in the community and tries to fill the nothingness with something given of them. Being people they don't do it perfectly. Most realize that there are people in the world who could do the job better, yet they are the ones that are willing to give themselves to the task, which is the number one qualification. And later when they look at the small something they created in the void, they can take pride that while they are not perfect and may not be the best, they did take the initiative to use whatever they had to make something special out of nothing at all.

In every community there are people who exercise the power to destroy. They also do it every day in small ways that often go unnoticed. However, the impact is felt just as much as the creative things done by others. They look at the small creations in the community and note that they are indeed not done perfectly. Every flaw, mistake or imperfection is fuel that drives him or her to their goal. When they see something someone has created they comment on how other towns have people who can do the same thing better. Many times they will comment, pick and prod until the small something that was created is finally abandoned by a weary worker who could no longer withstand the pressure. The small creation is stopped and the nothingness returns in its place. At that point those who exercise the power to destroy have succeeded in producing nothing out of something.

The key to growing a city, county, state or country is to have more people who are using the power to create rather than the power to destroy. There will always be those who prefer the power to destroy in every place. But when the majority of our citizens use the power to create then the many small somethings they create will fill voids in the community will overshadow the few setbacks produced by destroyers. Another interesting thing happens. Those who exercise the power to destroy find that whenever they produce a void, a nothingness, it is suddenly filled again by someone who is creating. After time it is the people who employ the power to destroy that get weary and cease to work as hard. As they cease an explosion occurs in the community.

Where do you line up? Are you happy using whatever you have to create a small something that fills the nothing areas of the community and makes it a better place? Or do you sit back and look at things others do and by your words and actions help ensure that the things being done will be destroyed as quickly as possible? The future of Prescott and Nevada County is up to us. Let's exercise the power to create and make this the best place in Arkansas to live and do business.