(Photo by Hazel King)My mother was four years old in 1929 when Wall Street fell, causing the Great Depression. Hard times? She’s lived them. She remembers Christmases when she and her six siblings received pencils for school and maybe an apple or an orange and a few pieces of hard candy. She does not remember such times with regret or bitterness. Those are good memories because the family was sheltered and fed and loved and together.
The current economic outlook is gloomy, with dire predictions that “it will get worse before it gets better.” We may face some hard candy Christmases of our own. And someday we, too, may look back and remember days of deprivation with something like fondness. There is something liberating about getting back to basics, lightening our loads, living life at its core. Food, shelter, clothing: What else do we really need? The Bible says if we have food and clothing, we should be content (1 Timothy 6:8). True contentment lies not in having what you want, but wanting what you have. Be thankful for hard candy. The taste can be very sweet.
By Hazel King
© 2008
hazel811@embarqmail.com
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