What Does It All Mean ?

I know that a picture is worth a thousand words. But OH MY !!
(I generally refrain from blogging about such things as the below .... but here goes ... so watch out !)

When I saw THIS image, the voices of the many politicians and even more newcasters and commentators and experts (and nearly everyone these days) that I have heard these last few months literally flooded back into my mind .... the economy, corporate financial news, the stock market, fires, floods, natural disasters, protests, Special Interests, droughts, the value of the dollar, the war, sales tax, buy outs, corporate bankruptcy, federal taxes, the price of milk, the candidates, the current administration, Republican, Democrat, the oil price per barrel, debates, gas prices at the pump, state taxes, government waste and abuse, tax and spend, The Issues, economic stimulus packages, healthcare ... coupled usually with a lot of fingerpointing ... and the list goes on and on and on .....

I do not want to even pretend to know what it all means .... but I do know what all of these things really mean to our average American family, and most other American families as well ....

(hint: the photo is above.)

This might just be a great year to stay closer to home instead of going on a far-away vacation ... a great year to plant a vegetable garden and eat a few more meals at home ... a great year to walk or ride a bike rather than taking the car ... a fantastic year to open the curtains and let the sun's light in instead of flipping the switches on ... a wonderful year to watch what we use and try to recycle instead of throwing so much in the trashcan ... a great year to be creative, making the best of what we have ... a good time to begin using our resources wisely and frugally. These are just a few of the "lessons" that can be learned right now.

It seems to me that as a society, we could all benefit from some instruction (or just a refresher) in doing more with less. On some level, it seems that we have all (collectively) made this "bed" and now must lie in it --- we shopped, we tossed away, we prefered new, we charged and took out loans on top of loans, we chose convienence over what-to-do-with-waste, we elected, we embraced complacency, we chose synthetic over natural, we chose placing blame over accountability and responsibility, we chose to be busy with accomplishments instead of being knitted together as families and communities and a nation, we chose quantity over quality with regard to time and resources, we chose limited over renewable, we lost sight of what real NEED is .... we as a nation have chosen to focus on so many False Gods, rather than keeping our eyes on Our Father who blessed us with this awesome nation and all it has to offer, and we have in many ways lost sight of the intention and spirit of our founding fathers. What a mess we are in .... but there is hope .... hope in the lessons we CAN learn if only we are willing .... hope in Him ....

I think "this" economic sitaution is quite possibly here to stay for a while, despite the Economic Stimulus packages and rate cuts and buy outs and every other "solution" that has been offered so far. Why do I think it will remain this way for a while ?? Simply because we as Americans do not always accept a need to change WILLINGLY -- the old addage is "What goes up, must come down", right ?? Who knew that this statement was not only about Newton's Law of Gravity ?? Hummm. Well, maybe this "down" will teach us as a society to mend our dead-end wrong and misdirected ways a bit ?? Step by step we can change this path ... with His guidance.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all .....

In our own house, we will buckle down and do the best we can do ... always with prayer ... and with our eyes FIRMLY on Our Father. We will remember the lessons from History ... will focus on God's instructions ... and will remember our Founding Fathers who acted in the spirit of those brave few that came to found this great nation in His Holy Name.

The other old addage that comes to mind just now ... Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it (George Santayana) ... it seems the only "groups" that see a need to get serious and make some changes are the faithful, and those who remember well the Great Depression and World War II either by living through it or living in the aftermath. Hummmmmm .....

Getting down from my Soap Box now ...