Tuesday, September 16, 2008

buy bread

The year was 1973. I was 16 years old. I had a 1963 Ford Galaxie, four door with a big V-8 motor. I never paid much attention to the news. There was something called an oil embargo going on. Prices started going up. Gas went from 40 cents to $1 a gallon in a matter of weeks. My Dad lost his job. You could only buy gas every other day and we had to wait in lines to buy the gas. I carried a spare gallon in my trunk in case I ran out. I remember asking my Dad about all of this. I was a bit frightened. He told me about being raised in the depression and some of the difficulties that they faced. He said that there was an old saying or story. When someone says, “bread is $1 a loaf! What will we do?” You answer them. What do you do when bread gets to be $1 a loaf? “Buy bread,” Dad said.

His message was simple. Everything is going to be ok. Sometimes people face hard times. They come and they go. You just keep going. You don’t focus on what is wrong; you buy bread and feed your family. During hard times we tend to remember what is really important. During hard times we are a little more apt to help each other.

The Dow went down 500 points yesterday. What is the world coming to? What if bread goes to $1 a loaf? I mean what if bread goes to $3 a loaf? God is still with us. Life is still good. If bread goes to $3 a loaf, let's buy a loaf and have lunch. Let's hug one another and celebrate the many joys of living.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tough times never last, tough people do.

Anonymous said...

Late summer of 1973, my dad traveled on the road for work. He couldn't come home because of the gas problems. We have not had to faces these types of hardships. We are extremely blessed to be in "our" world. Couldn't we share more? Even if we don't know what will happen to our stocks?

Anonymous said...

What a great sentiment!!

Anonymous said...

In these very uncertain times, I keep thinking of our gospel song: My Life is in Your Hands". So, I'm leaning on that thought. Betty