The streets today are empty. The public transportation system has been drawn down to minimal service and the aircraft services are in danger of having to shut down. Pubs and eating establishments are being shut down or are only being allowed to provide “take-out” or “take-away” services. Hospitals won’t allow elective services. What in the world is going on?
My guess is that very few of you lived through the “Great Depression,” when desperate people jumped off skyscrapers because of financial ruin, children stood on the streets selling apples and people stood in line in the hope of getting something to eat. The Federal Government had to bring in the militia to maintain order in the streets. Finally, the Public Works Administration found a way to provide work for indigents or men who had families without shelter or food.
My wife Sylvia and I lived through those days, she on the island of Bermuda where all goods had to be shipped in by steamers. These were ships that were subject to being torpedoed and many were, which meant that loads of edibles and personal ware were lost many times. Sylvia remembers having to cut out the toes in her shoes because her feet were growing and no new shoes had gotten through the submarines patrolling the Atlantic. I lived in NYC when my father had to work in a warehouse, carrying 100 lbs. of flour from one location to another for a truly minimal wage to support Mom, me and my sister. Dad was able to earn extra funds by becoming the custodian of the Brooklyn German Seventh-day Adventist Church, my sister and I having our areas to clean.
Then came WWII when rationing became the norm. In the USA, rationing was handled by setting up a series of coupons for almost everything you wanted to buy. Each car had a sticker placed on the lower right corner of every vehicle indicating what classification the driver had for the purchase of gas. Farmers and defense workers got the highest classification, the general public the lowest. No tires were available, tubes had to be patched by hand, over and over again. Of course, this is not to minimize the horrendous loss of USA soldiers in various fields of battle.
For those of you who did not live in the actual area of the fighting during WWII, it is not possible to describe what personal inconvenience that caused. I viewed the damage first hand as a USA soldier stationed in Germany during the Army of Occupation which followed the end of WWII. I saw the hardship suffered by the civilians in numerous countries as they and their countries struggled to recover from “hellish” destruction.
Why am I bringing these “memories” up for your consideration? Stop for a moment and think!
We currently are being asked to stay at home and work there where possible, stay away from each other by a “social 6 feet,” don’t buy more than our family needs, keep a sanitary house and certainly wash one’s hands quite often.
In my opinion, one of the most important things to be done at this time is communicating with those who are ill or isolated, by phone or email of course. Also, those families who have lost loved ones or have loved ones who are truly ill, need our love to be transmitted to them by any means possible.
Stop for a Moment and Think!Nothing I’ve shared of our current national challenge is minimized; I’m simply comparing it to the past so that you will be encouraged that this too shall pass. And of course, the God of yester-year is the God of today. He will certainly care for us today as He cared for others in the past. Let’s pray that He will give us the courage to cooperate and assist wherever and whenever possible.