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PASTOR RUDY SHEPTOCK/SOUL MINING JULY 3^RD

The last time the United States celebrated a birthday of significance was the bicentennial of 1976. I was 17 years old and had my whole life standing before me on my doorstep. I still had my hair which at the time was feathered back so all I had to do was brush it in the middle and every precious curly lock fell beautifully into place. Little did I know how much I would miss needing a comb all these years later! During that summer, I was driving my 1972 Chevy Nova and had pride in my ride. I adored that car because what I didn’t possess in muscle, it made up for and more. Sure, it had a big piece of plywood under the gas and brake pedal because of rust, but it didn’t matter. This car was mine and I cherished it maybe just a bit more than the girl I happened to be dating that summer. I was already working maintenance for the Mountain Lakes school system so I could afford 60 cents a gallon that it cost for a gallon of gas. I made sure that I got down the shore as much as possible then, flying down the Garden State Parkway with a cup full of quarters to pay the toll. It was true freedom to be able to go to Seaside Heights without my parents in tow.

1976 prices themselves would cause us to want to return to the time when it only cost 13 cents to mail a letter. Remember, there was no internet or cell phone, so emails and texting were still years in the future and if you wanted to connect with someone in a romantic way, snail mail was our only option. Yes, I know our rotary telephone was available, but if you grew up in a big family like me, privacy was something one could only dream about. It also cost less than 2 bucks for a movie ticket and that was during prime time. No VHS, DVD, streaming services or cable had been offered to the public yet, so you had to settle for what was on the 6 channels our television provided as daily entertainment or get out to the local movie house. Don’t worry though, John Wayne in “The Shootist,” was running at the box office and a new baseball film called, “The Bad News Bears,” made its debut. I personally knew one of the kids in that movie because he was in our youth group and my sister dated him. Come to think of it, my sister seemed to date everyone back then. Later in the year, the first Rocky with Sylvester Stallone made us all cheer the underdog and punch everything in sight as we left the theaters. In 2026, and God only knows how many installments of Balboa and Creed later, we are still scrambling up the Philadelphia Art Museum steps albeit a bit slower and much more carefully than we did the first time. I always thought it was cool living so close to Philly in such monumental times of American history.

As usual, I was totally in tune with what was playing on our transistor radios on July 4^th, 1976. Every time I hear “Love is Alive” by Gary Wright, I still literally feel the heat of that summer sun in my brain, and I am back soaking up the rays under the guise of doing yard work at our house in Peapack, New Jersey. Disco was coming into its own with dance selections like “I’ll Be Good to You,” by the Brothers Johnson at number 8, “Get Up and Boogie,” by the Silver Convention at number 7 and “More, More, More,” by the Andrea True Connection at number 6. The one hit wonder, “Afternoon Delight,” by the Starlight Vocal Band was moving up to number 2 but as ironic as it could be, it was the British Beatle Paul McCartney who held down the top spot with “Silly Love Songs.” I still don’t think this world has reached its fill of silly love songs and there is nothing wrong with that. And how cool is it that Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor and Barry Manilow are still producing new music and touring 50 years later? In 1976, I couldn’t even imagine artists in their 70’s and 80’s packing out arenas. I thought being 30 was ancient then and looking at us now in our own late 60’s still rocking and rolling while we shake and rattle all the way to the doctor’s office.

While America was celebrating its 200^th birthday, Gerald Ford was president by assignment and the campaigning to see who would be next was in full swing. The Georgia Peanut Farmer named Jimmy Carter would surprise many of us when he took over the White House in January of 1977. And while we all like to make the good old days much better than they really were, our country was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam War. We were still very aware of the potential disaster of nuclear destruction. Civil Rights continued to cause division and violence. And our over dependence upon oil from the Middle East made the energy ordeal a real crisis. In just three short years, Three-Mile Island would put this area of Pennsylvania on the national radar and daily survival became a buzz word for all of us.   

I make no apology that I am not a fan of where we are as a nation here in 2026. The technological advances we have made, while impressive, have not brought us closer together or made us stronger as we live now amidst a barrage of daily information coming at us in lightning speed from all different vehicles of social media and nobody knows what is true and what is false. The lines of moral absolutes continue to become overly subjective with the necessary borders of accountability and checks and balances vanishing from the playing field. Just because someone of fame and notoriety states something doesn’t make it true. And one can’t just ignore or disregard historical  facts that have survived generation after generation just because it doesn’t fit one’s taste or pleasure. Are we as a people smarter when we allow others to make major decisions for us? I know homework has never been very popular, but what is the hope of a people who no longer invest the time to make sure they not only know what they believe but why they believe it also. Can you give a valid reason for the convictions you hold dearly that hold more weight than today’s popular opinion poll? And have we abandoned the art of listening because we are so determined to ram our own opinions down somebody else’s throat?

As I write this, the temperatures outside have reached three-digit numbers. I am a child of winter. I do not do well when the hazy hot and humid descriptions headline Cecily Tynan’s weather forecast. But my daughter Leah lives for the heat and the hotter it gets, the happier she becomes. Who is right? Do you see what I am saying? What happened to real diversity and not one where it is forced that if you don’t bow to the party line, you are flat out wrong! If there are 28 flavors of ice cream, please pick your favorite and let somebody else like their choice. Not every decision is black and white. Orange and blue are good choices for colors also. But when it comes to “the truths that are self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” if we don’t have a sure foundation then it won’t be long before everyone just does what is right in their own eyes and that leads to the chaotic spirit we are drifting in today.

If I had my way, which I don’t but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming or praying, I would long for everyone to believe that they are not a creature of happenstance but are fearfully and wonderfully designed by a God who loves them and has a unique purpose for their existence. I would want us all to fight for every life, every color, every background, every flavor, every man and woman, boy and girl, born and yet to be born until there is no life to battle for anymore. No human being should be able to decide who has worth and who doesn’t. Will we ever learn from history’s mistakes? Or will we walk blindly and deafly down the same road of hatred and persecution of certain peoples all over again? Finally, I wish we would all just take the time these next few days and revisit June 6^th, 1944. Those men who were let out of those transports that morning to fight upon the Normandy Beaches that day sacrificed their everything so that Nazism and Tyranny would not be allowed to run rampant and trample all that is good upon God’s earth. I don’t want to waste their greatest gift of life because I was too busy just trying to have a good time. America is at its best when we are united in fighting for all life and protecting liberty and justice for all. Happy Birthday America! Let Freedom Continue to Ring because we refused to take it for granted!