The T-shirt drawer and who am I?

I promised Cecile Wehrman of the North Dakota Newspaper Association I would write opinions for the weekly newspapers that focused on opportunities rather than problems. I want to share "useful thinking" with readers who live in rural places. Some of that thinking comes from me, but much from others I have listened to, or read what they wrote.

Former Ag Commissioner Roger Johnson is tired of me quoting people who had said important things. I understand I can be tiring to listeners and readers. Heck, I am even tiring to myself.

This coming April I will have been retired nine years. But I still think about my life's work of helping rural communities thrive. The economic, political, and religious themes embedded in understanding the mechanics of thriving rural communities still dominate my thinking.

So, I share today not the quotes of others, but the identity revealing contents of my T-shirt drawer. I hope you will also spend some time thinking about who you are this December time of reflection.

Here goes the T-shirt list: Strengthen ND, NCBA CLUSA, Bismarck Mandan United Church of Christ, FFA – I believe in the Future of Agriculture, Crop Walk (numerous years), North Dakota Democrat, Haugen for Congress, North Dakotans for Public Integrity, Bernie Sanders for President, Stihl Chain Saws, Capital City Soccer Club Classic 2007, Never Surrender 1804 Lewis & Clark, North Dakota Bison Great Ships on the Prairie, Going to the Sun – Glacier National Park 1910, Merril Piepkorn Patrick Hart for Governor Lt. Governor, Love North Dakota – Be Angry Dakota Resource Council, Ryan Taylor for Governor, Hammer for Congress, Ball State University, MSUM Moorhead, Anderson University Soccer, Live Generously – Thrivent, We do Big Things – Barack Obama, North Dakota Mill 1922. That is the promotional T-shirt drawer.

My closets are full of promotional wear that includes sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets and caps. I have a cap collection that is simply obscene. I have promoted Hazen, Oberon, Montana Cattleman's Association, Dakota Growers Pasta, "Dakota Living" magazine, Dakota Wesleyan University, NASA, Boeing, Moorhead Spuds, Capital Electric Cooperative, Subaru and Murthy's Pub by wearing their caps.

I have promoted Touchstone Energy, the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, National Rural Utilities Finance Corporation, CoBank and numerous national cooperatives by wearing their jackets and shirts.

My hobby equipment also defines me. I have three Stihl chain saws, a 1949 International pickup with a Ford engine in it, a 2010 Massey Ferguson compact tractor, a 1941 Model S Case tractor, a Case 446 garden tractor with a Case tiller, a Cub Cadet riding lawn mower with a mowing deck and snow blower, and a boat and a camper.

Since I bought my first car in 1968, I have owned 43 other cars and trucks. When I put all those things together, I am still confused about who I am. They really represent who I have been and my interests at the time I owned them. Who the heck am I now?

Perhaps a more useful discussion about personal identity is what we hope for. Having an honest discussion of what we hope for requires a vulnerability that is uncommon in today's cynical world.

The upside of that discussion is that sometimes people of differing political and religious viewpoints discover they hope for the same things. The Christmas season is universal, not solely reserved for Christians.

I wouldn't be surprised that if we could hear the hope from even our enemies, it would be similar to ours. This is the season for Hope, Joy, Peace and Love. Wishing you all of those and I hope your car starts!