Gottschalks filed for bankruptcy last month and is closing 52 big box retail stores. Mervyn’s went bust a few months ago. The big banks would all be out of business but for the mega-bucks Federal bail outs. And G.M., Ford, and Chrysler are all teetering on the brink of extinction.
I remember as a kid thinking that nobody could come in to the U.S. and compete with the Big 3. They were just too big and too dominant. Well, “the bigger they are the harder they fall.” That was the mantra of my high school football coach, Mr. Mitchell, when he wanted to pump us up to not be afraid of the bigger teams we played against. Now my wife drives a Honda, both of my girls drive Volkswagens, and I own a Yamaha motorcycle.
I know a guy named Vyacheslav who used to live in the U.S.S.R. before the iron curtain came down. He was thrown in prison because he was a Christian. I lived through some of the cold war between the two great world “superpowers.” I never thought I’d live to see the iron curtain come down. Then old Ronnie R. says “Mr. Gorbachav, tear down this wall.” And boom! It’s down.
When you’re young it’s easy to believe you’re gonna be the Big Kahuna. You’re gonna live forever. You’re not gonna make the mistakes the others have made. Well, guess what? The cold war superpowers have lost their super. The Big 3 are big losers. You’re not as invincible as you think. And we’re all going down.
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Dear George~
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful input from Sue tonight. I'm delighted that you guys are headed up to Huntington for the week-end. I enjoyed Mark's comments to you, especially when he wrote that "The one thing that stands out for all of us is that only God knows our time here on this earth, and for the Christian, He has a calling, a testimony, for us to share with our brothers and sisters, and with those who are not Christians. While God is not the micromanager of our lives - we are not "going through the motions He planned a long time ago" - like Job, we are faced with trials. Life happens, and when our own strength, abilities, and understanding are inadequate, sometimes all God wants us to do is to keep our eyes on Him, praise Him, and trust Him.
God will give both of you the strength to overcome this, and He can be glorified through this, also."
When you're out running, if you listen to an iPod, here is a URL address for something interesting to download, or just to listen to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104351710
It's the fourth story in a five part series featured on NPR. Today's story is "Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person? The series is called "The Science of Spirituality"and I found it pretty interesting. I thought of you and all of us who are praying for Sue. Scientists are restudying this phenomenon.
I hope you guys have a nice, restful, wonderful week-end.
Love you all,
~Cyndi