As a young man my world was expand by a big table radio that sat on a table next to an easy chair in our kitchen a million miles from civilization. Among those shows that transported me to far away places was the Lone Ranger.
Hi-Yo, Silver! A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi-Yo Silver"... The Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early Western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoof-beats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again!
There were 2956 radio episodes of the Lone Ranger. I think I heard them all, as well as all the television shows and movies that came out as well. I even had a copy of the Lone Rangers creed that I lost when we moved when I was 10. I found it again just a while ago on the internet.
I believe...
that to have a friend, a man must be one.
that all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
that God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.
in being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
that a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
that 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.
that men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
that sooner or later...somewhere...someho
that all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
in my Creator, my country, my fellow man.
---John Francis Reid (The Lone Ranger)
that to have a friend, a man must be one.
that all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
that God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.
in being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
that a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
that 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.
that men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
that sooner or later...somewhere...someho
that all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
in my Creator, my country, my fellow man.
---John Francis Reid (The Lone Ranger)
It is not so much that I ever actually memorized the creed as I absorbed it into the mind through all of its example in the stories.
Of course it all blended together with the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and the philosophy of Captain Kangaroo.
So this is the way I decided to live. Like every good Lone Ranger I didn't do it perfectly, or even most of the time.
As I grew up I also found that it was not so wise to wear a mask and ride a white horse while you followed that creed. So it was that when I read Descartes I picked up on my over arching concept to live by even as a Lone Ranger:
“I desire to live in peace and to continue the life I have begun under the motto: 'To Live Well You Must Live Unseen”
― René Descartes, The Principles of Philosophy
1 comment:
All through childhood, I thought
Rossini's 'William Tell Overture'
was the Lone Ranger song. But we kids knew the answer to the oft-asked question, "Who WAS that masked man"....
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