JUST A PENCIL

Early in the morning of November 23, 1963 my missionary companion and I entered the train station in Munich, Germany. That day was the day I was being transfered to a small village outside of Nuremberg, Germany called Stein. I spotted a newspaper vendor holding up a newspaper with the headlines KENNEDY ERMORDET. Much to our amazement Pres. Kennedy had been assassinated. What a strange feeling we had to be in Germany and our president was gunned down in the USA. Sadness filled the air as we and many of the German citizens tried to grasp what had just happened the day before. My understanding of the german language was very limited and being a missionary and isolated from much of the news of the day I was unable to get many of the details. This was hard, but I was in Germany to be a missionary and the outside world was far from my daily thoughts. I mentioned this tragedy in my journal, but it wasn’t the main topic. I learned most of the details of the assassination after returning home in 1966.

Stein is a beautiful German village and the home of the pencil manufacturer FABER-CASTELL. Again while I was there I wasn’t concerned with pencils. It was interesting to note that one of the most famous writing instrument manufacturers started here, but not much thought was given to “pencils”. Then this morning I read a commentary/column in the newspaper on pencils. My thoughts went back to this beautiful village and the great experiences I had there. However, today I am concerned with the state of the world. You might call it worry/concern for the business climate and how the government is making it more and more difficult to prosper in business. We must all consider the history of the USA and why it is the most prosperous country in the world. Our freedoms in all areas, including business, have allowed us to follow the plan of the Savior. To pursue dreams, work hard, fail, succeed, be happy, be sad, experience tragedy, experience joy are all necessary for our salvation. We don’t need a government to think for us and provide us with their version of “THE PLAN OF HAPPINESS”.

Go to the link below and read this article. It made me concerned of where we are headed.

http://www.caglecartoons.com/column.asp?columnID={E5EDD2ED-4581-40CF-88BF-2B6735005AD4}