Things Get a Little Easier, Once You Understand

There was a song back in the early 70's called "Once You Understand."  It featured conversations about the changing neighborhood, and the arguments parents had with their children.  It ended sadly with a phone call from a police officer telling the parent that his son had died of an overdose.

Similarly, we have a deep desire to know "why."  Several years ago, Simon Sinek publish a book saying that we must "Start With Why," rather than starting with "who or what" like we usually do.  It's when we know "why" we're doing what we're doing that all things begin to flow from that standpoint.

Take this back even to the Baltimore Catechism's Lesson 1, Question 6:  "Why did God make me?"  The answer: "God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven."

Notice we must know Him first before we can love Him.  Discovering the "why" leads to a process that requires us to learn.  And, since love is a decision, we must first have knowledge before we can make a correct decision.

Therefore, here are a couple of potential answers to today's pressing questions:

1) Why do our government representatives think they can solve everything by throwing money at it?
Because many of them are trained as lawyers, and lawyers study the law.  They also know how to settle cases with financial windfalls for the plaintiff.  If they solve problems in private practice by throwing money at it, why would we expect them to act differently when they're elected to a public office?

2) How do we get America back to work?
We have to make things.  We went from an agrarian society to a manufacturing society (which is where cultures rise to power and prominence) to a service society to an information society.  In an information society, knowledge is power.  Who has the population with the highest IQs?  Not America.  India has more honors students than America has students.  So let's make stuff again...but where is most stuff made today?  China.  Sadly, they have areas where they dump industrial waste.  The Environmental Protection Agency in this country would never let that happen here.  Until we figure out how we can make things here that the world wants, and can deal with the residual aftermath, then we're not going to move forward with this.  Some folks say let's make the iPhone here.  We could - but would anyone pay over 2 or 3 thousand dollars for one?