United We Stand Only Way to Survive the Pandemic 

I'm a '36 model and to detour around the heavy math concerning my age, let's just say I have much of the road-of-life in my rear-view mirror.  That's not a bad thing---life.  In fact, IMO, the only bad thing about it would be to have lived and not learned from the experience.  And I have good company in my belief: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  George Santayana  1863-1952

History chronicles our success, but how did we do it?  Simple answer: We United

Remember the past?  Yes, I have many memories from those early years, but the biggest was seeing the reaction of my parents after learning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  This was December 7, 1941, and I was not yet six years of age.  This event triggered profound changes in our life.  We wanted peace as we'd been living it.  But first, to reclaim it, we had to defeat the enemy that destroyed it.  History chronicles our success, but how did we do it?  Simple answer: We United. And, as a family, we made many changes.  Prior to the outbreak of WWII, my dad held a residential ice delivery route and my mom worked at a small luncheonette.   Within months, dad was serving in the Navy and mom had taken a second job working nights sewing parachutes for the Army Air Corp.  Me?  Well, still at an age where working would be considered child abuse today, I pulled my wagon through the neighborhood alleys and picked up bundles of newspaper, tin cans, and various other discards set out by folks supporting the WWII Scrap Drive.  When my wagon was full, I'd take it to a collection site behind a nearby grocery store.  Rationing was another way of life.  Sugar, shoes, coffee, and gasoline were a few of the ones I remember.  This continued until late in 1945 when WWII officially ended.  I was a veteran with many memories and still less than ten years of age.  Slowly, as we had been wanting it to be, life returned to normal.  Dad had worked as an electrician installing wiring on fighter aircraft while in the Navy, and soon after his Honorable Discharge from the service he opened his own electrical contracting business.  Mom also enjoyed success, as she and her brother (after his discharge from service) opened their own luncheonette.  And it was there, at age thirteen, I held my first real job: cleaning tables, washing dishes, and running errands for mom. 

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At war with an invisible enemy

The war years we'd experienced deprived us of many things we wanted.  But, as mom reminded me, "By the grace of God, we always had enough to meet our needs."  What I've written above came to mind recently while watching one of President Trump's press briefings concerning the Corona virus.  To paraphrase, he said we were at war with an invisible enemy.  Seemed an apt metaphor when I heard his words.  In previous wars we'd used ships, planes, and armed troops, but we'd clearly need a different array of weapons to defeat this invisible enemy.  What would those weapons be?  It would certainly require an array of medical researchers, doctors, nurses, and so on; however, what important point must we not forget in this war?  Here's a hint: it was the super weapon we used in winning WWII.  Unity. After giving his virus update, President Trump took questions from the press corp.  Unity was AWOL.  My daily prayer of late has been for America to prevail over this pandemic.  Additionally, and just as important, is that God would bless America again.  That's my prayer, but I believe God has already given us the answer to our problem in Mark 3:25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Taking the word of God, then, we have His prescription for healing.  The opposite of "divided" is "united."