It’s been said that America was able to win in World War II because its’ men and women went through the Great Depression.
During that time, my grandfather became a moonshiner – making whiskey in the woods, and my mother’s family drove from Oklahoma to California to work in the fruit orchards just like the movie “Grapes of Wrath.”
The Greatest Generation, as they’ve been called, suffered through hardship and deprivation in the depression (no coffee, no sugar, no nylons and no work) and learned to innovate and create something out of nothing. And those changes stayed with them. I still remember my parents saving plastic containers and shopping at Goodwill, even when it was no longer necessary.
Importantly, that generation developed common values of personal responsibility, duty, honor, country and faith because they fought a common enemy – first the Great Depression, then a Great War.
Their remarkable actions provided succeeding generations (you and me) with opportunities to excel like never before.
Now, like them, we fight a common enemy and we can no longer deny our need for cooperation and dependence on one another. By working together, by digging deep within our own resources and resolve, we will win this COVID-19 war and all the effects reverberating through our economy, our relationships and our way of life. We will be tested, but we will make it!
As the saying goes, it is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars.
How are you shining in this time? I’m becoming a “zoomie,” doing on-line counseling and trying to encourage others by writing – like this blog or on social media and hosting a Bible study counseling class. Those are my gifts and where I think I can do the most good.
You have gifts and are perhaps learning new skills that will benefit you and others. This is the time to shine! And this is your time to share! You may inspire someone else!
