The Dow and the Pilgrims

Still, I'd like to express my thanks --

I've got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.

And with the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening,

I'm All right!"

Lines from "Annie Get Your Gun."

America's current overwhelming problems with its money status and the general deterioration of the markets have led us to a state of fear and anxiety which can be likened to panic endemic across the land. Businesses are failing with recorded loss of stock value in some cases depicting a total wipe-out of values expressed in the stock averages. Chief of these is the Dow-Jones Industrial -- "The Dow." These values have dropped by nearly one-half in the past several months, while displaying evidence of extreme volatility among traders. Layoffs exceed the norm by one hundred per cent, and unemployment is reaching for seven percent. Families are showing the strain of being unable to meet their bills, and credit is dry as the desert southwest. Unbridled greed and malfeasance of office have contributed to this shameful situation which is world wide and seemingly not abating despite inconceivable sums of money being doled out to the banks, but not to the people or the failing industries.

Coming up this week is the day we set aside to remember the Pilgrims, who suffered so much after they broke ties with England to build a home and a new life on these far and inimical shores. They had carried their possessions aboard the Mayflower and had signed a compact to guide their social interactions. That first season decimated the group, and yet they prayed with thankful fervor to their God Who had brought them safely here. They lived off the land because of the friendly Iroquois who showed these novices how to extract their needed food and showing them how to preserve it, how to fish and how to plant corn. They killed wild turkey and feasted, faces upturned to the heavens.

After almost four centuries, their descendants in America have learned how to deal with plenty and stinging want. Our children and their elders have developed so much preoccupation with food that obesity is epidemic here. We have enjoyed the fruits of freedom and have come to place our country's needs above our own. Let us come together this year in deep humility and thank our God for not only the sun in the morning and the moon at night, but also the stars and His everlasting mercy. That miracle will make us whole.