You’re Not the Lone Ranger
Our grandchildren love for me to read to them from old Golden Books from 50 and 60 years ago with stories about the Lone Ranger, Captain Kangaroo, Smoky Bear, or some such. The pages of some of them are so brittle that I have to turn them with care.
The Lone Ranger character debuted on December 17, 1937 on radio station WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. The long-running radio show would last for 21 years. His story later spread to movies, television, and books, both comic and other. The character, when not dressed up in his black mask to fight evil, was John Reid. Reid was a former Texas Ranger who was the lone survivor of an ambush against himself and four fellow Rangers. The native man Tonto nursed Reid back to health and became his partner. The Lone Ranger’s mask was a disguise to keep the people who had ambushed him and his fellow Rangers from knowing who he was.
Reid’s father owned a silver mine. The mine funded his good deeds and provided the name for his horse Silver.
The Lone Ranger kept a code of ethics. Three of his rules were:
- I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one.
- I believe that all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
- I believe in being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
Those who created the Lone Ranger character decided that he would always speak perfect English. He never shot to kill the outlaws he apprehended, but only fired his gun to disarm them.
When the radio show began, its developers found a copy of the “William Tell Overture” lying around the radio station and decided to use it for the show’s theme song.
My brother Steve and I were enthusiastic Lone Ranger watchers after the show and its rerun came to television.
So, why in the world am I writing about a radio and TV western hero in a post for homeschooling mamas?
Last night I thought about writing about finishing well. That is something we all want to do and that we want our children to do, too. I had a passage in mind, but then decided to look up the topic “finish” on Bible Gateway. The first passage that came up brought to mind something we all need to remember. In Christ none of us is the Lone Ranger. We don’t have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps every day and plod on through to a great finish—in any area of our lives.
For I am confident of this very thing,
that He who began a good work among you
will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6