Now is a time for faith

The United States is in difficult times. Everyone from Tea Party activists to the President of the United States tell us how bad things are. Both of them feed off one another, telling us to greater degrees how bad things are and how bad things are going to get. The media quickly puts a microphone in front of whomever seems angry, lost, frustrated or defeated.

Frankly, things are frustrating. Local governments, like the county government in Anderson seem concerned over things like investigating past political foes with taxpayer money. The state legislature seems worried about going after text messaging of all things, while shirking their duties to examine the budget and cut programs not necessary out in order to fund first things first.

The Congressional leadership and the President of the United States seem hellbent on passing lobbyist written legislation on so called health care reform whether the people want it or not. Indeed, passing such is so important the President of the United States is postponing a foreign trip and putting his Presidency on the line to pass legislation that will likely do nothing to alleviate actual health care costs in the long term.

The feelings of frustration and angst among the people are justified. Far too many people face increased insurance costs and local taxes while they worry about holding their jobs. Far too many politicians seem worried about who contributes to their campaign funds more than who they represent. Far too many political activists, on the right and left, seem eager to exploit the feelings of frustration and angst in order to satisfy their selfish craving for power and relevance.

History is filled with how nations fell because their people did not believe in themselves and one another. The United States has faced this situation several times before. Each time the people prevailed because the people chose to have faith and to believe in themselves, their institutions, their economy and that God will guide them to a better day. The people went to work believing that despite how bad today looked, they were working for a better tomorrow. Time and time again in great times of national trial, that faith in a better tomorrow led to such. That faith held the nation together.

The United States remains one of the greatest nations in human history. No nation has rebuilt its enemies, stood for human rights, or built an economy like the United States. To remain what Ronald Reagan called, "that shining city on a hill," the people must have faith in themselves and our leaders must have faith in us.

The rich man must believe that the poor man matters. The poor man must not hate the rich man for his success. The elected official must not patronize his constituents and his constituents must hold the elected official accountable with goodwill, not anger. Big business must treat its customers and shareholders with respect. We have to have faith in the future and in our own sense of goodwill and believe that others have a sense of goodwill. Indeed, we must find that faith in ourselves and each other or we will surely fail. To do so, we must tune out the voices that tell us to loathe our fellow Americans for this or that reason and tell us that tomorrow will be worse than today. Indeed, it is the difficult times of a person or of a nation in which faith and the willingness to work in goodwill with that faith, defines the character of a person or a nation. God Bless the United States of America. Count me as someone who believes our best days are yet to come.