Hope rises in difficult times

By Gary L. Maydew

----

Ten years ago this Christmas, the United States was still reeling in shock at the attack of Sept. 11. In an op/ed for The Gazette that Christmas, I said that of all the beautiful carols, the one that seemed most appropriate in 2001 was “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

This is what I quoted 10 years ago. The third stanza of his lovely poem goes:

And in despair I bowed my head

“There is no peace on earth,” I said

“For hate is strong

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men!“

And indeed Longfellow had reason to despair. The poem was written in December 1863 in the midst of the seemingly interminable Civil War. Longfellow's son had been seriously wounded in battle, fighting for the Union.

For us the words still seem to ring true. The horrific Sept. 11 attack, the intractable problems in the Middle East, India and Pakistan, and strife elsewhere confirm that “hate is strong.”

Yet, Longfellow ended his poem with the hopeful:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The wrong shall fail,

The right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men!”

The 10 years since 2001 have been difficult and stressful. We have fought seemingly endless wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, costing more than 6,000 lives, thousands of injuries and a severe drain on our treasury. We have weathered a financial crisis and the worst recession our country has experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The risk of terrorism, including the awful specter of nuclear terrorism, is still high.

But, as we did in 2001, we have much to be thankful for this holiday season. There are signs of hope throughout the world: despotic regimes overthrown by courageous citizens; the emergence of a middle class in many developing countries; our troops home from Iraq; and the crippling of al-Qaida's leadership. Here in the United States, green shoots of growth are beginning to emerge in our economy, and there are signs that both our citizens and our government are beginning to address our high debt levels.

As I wrote in 2001, we do not know what additional attacks may be made on our country. But with God's help, we can be assured, as Longfellow said, that “the wrong shall fail, and the right prevail, to bring peace on earth and good will to men.”

Gary L. Maydew of Ames is a retired accounting professor at Iowa State University. Comments:

glmaydew@hotmail.com