December 7, 1941

I was thinking about this day--one of the first of the dates of strong memory for many. Hawaii is four hours behind the central time zone--five hours behind the eastern time zone. How long did word of the attack take to come to the general population? Today, we would know instantly, in the blink of an eye. How would word have gotten out? My guess would be via the military as they would have had the ability to carry the news over the ocean to the United States.

Odds are then that few would have been shocked by this Monday, December 8 edition of the New York Times. Shock would have grown as details emerged of the sinking of the ships, loss of life and heroism of the attacked. It would have then congealed into anger and resolve--resolve to restore order and seek justice.

I wish sometimes we could bottle this unity and resolve against a common enemy and compassion for the victims and sprinkle it around as needed when we are facing a less obvious and violent foe. Now, with our changing economy and needy people, segments of our population feeling left out, we seem to need a unity of purpose and community that we find hard to produce. Our discourse too often degenerates into name calling, selfish action and demonizing as we seek possible solutions and actions.

Would it be possible for us to come together once again to take action as one against the economic situations that threaten to destroy some, take apart our unity and create divisions in our country where before there were none?