Sunday Night Trivia

Interesting and thought provoking tidbit I just caught on the news:

On this date in 1947, Harry Truman gave the first nationally televised presidential address.

The subject?

Two years after the war was over and prosperity was beginning to abound in the USA, the President asked Americans to abstain from meat on Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to assist Europe's recovery efforts.
And Americans, used to rationing and cutting back to aid the greater good at home, stepped up to the plate and did it for the people of Europe, some of whom had been deadly enemies not too long before. We shared what we had with nations struggling to recover from years of social, economic, and agricultural devastation.

After Mass this evening, a VERY traditional/orthodox friend of mine (we are each others' oasis in the DOR) came up and grabbed me to tell me how angry she's getting as the election draws near, how frightening the discourse is, and how people all around us - including so many of our Catholic acquaintances - just DO NOT GET how terrible an Obama administration would be for this country. The visiting priest came up and joined in our conversation, and we discussed today's Gospel. I asked them, and I'll ask you. Are we as a nation, as a world, attacking the servants and killing the heir? Are we throwing away our chance to enter the kingdom with both hands?

I truly cannot imagine the people of this nation, at this time, in this culture of decadence and entitlement we've created, answering Harry Truman's call to help others in this day and age. Tough economic times are upon us, and will be for quite some time to come. People are going to be displaced and desperate.

What will you do? Not that you have to become a communist or give away all you have beyond what you need, but what kind of contribution can you make, be it financial, volunteering, or becoming more active in the community or in government to help ease the suffering and solve the problem? Most people will do nothing, protect their own interests, and sit back complaining about how awful and unfair it all is.

I don't want to be one of those people.