My morning’s mediation was filled with random thoughts:
First, a comic this morning portrayed a young child asking an adult why do we have a holiday after three months of summer vacation. The adult reminded the child that not all people get three months off during the summer. Maybe, we should consider only giving Labor Day off to those who never get a summer vacation or holiday. I would put single parents in that category. In fact one of the saddest parts of modern society is how many children are being raised by single parents and how little support those single parents get in our churches, schools, and our communities. Not that they don’t do a good job in most cases, but if my grandchildren are any example most of the time even two parents are not enough. It takes a village as somebody famous once wrote.
We used to say that once a family has more than two children you went from a man-to-man defense to a zone that had a whole lot of holes in it. I think if I were in a position of authority these days I would put assistance to one parent families near the top of the list of society’s list of priorities.
Another dramatic change from the days of my youth, is how many young people these days are burdened with mountains of student debt. The debt limits their opportunities when they graduate, restricts their mobility, and restricts a family’s options when it comes to how they raise their children. Why can’t higher educators, leaders, and all of us realize we should be concerned about the education complex reshaping our country. I still am fearful of the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower warned about, but equally as concerning almost sixty years later is how the education-industry is reshaping our country as well.
If you fear I am getting totally off message this morning, which I probably am, let us all consider on this Labor Day how we, our churches, and our communities can address the fact that too many people cannot afford to take one day off, there are too many single parents in our society without support mechanisms to keep them sane, and too many colleges and universities that are more concerned about new buildings than students. The solutions won’t come from those at the top, but will come from those who labor.
Too much money in Higher Education spent on bricks and mortar. We now have the ability to deliver the most complex knowledge in a variety of formats to accommodate different lifestyles, learning styles, and financial resources. We are slow to give up the traditional systems.
Thank you so much for your comment. Webb