Sunrise . . . Sunset . . .

Congratulations, Bridgewater!  We’ve made it through another year.  Although I think that 2012 has been good for many people, perhaps the reality is that it has been an unusually difficult period for most.
 
The Great Recession of 2007/2008 refuses to release its grip, causing financial and emotional pain; and, a great October storm has devastated the New Jersey coastline, seriously disrupting the lives of our neighbors along its length.
 
Nationally, the never-ending cat fights in Washington between the Oval Office and the Congress vis-à-vis the crisis of a non-existent budget, the enacting of temporary financial fixes, and the runaway level of debt – all foreshadow a deepening paralysis of leadership in our nation’s Capital.
 
No American deserves to be subjected to that level of non-governance.
 
While leaving Independence Hall in Philadelphia at the close of the Constitutional Convention in September of 1787, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a woman who asked him this question: 
 
“Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”  To which Franklin replied, “A republic, madam – if you can keep it.”  Keeping it intact has been our greatest challenge ever since those words leaped from Franklin’s lips.
 
Our founders did a sterling job of establishing a unique democracy – some say republic – which the world has ever been blessed to observe, yet our leaders within The Beltway persevere in making a mockery of it.
 
That state of affairs -- unless one has become ossified into denial – is the gist of the picture that faces America at the conclusion of 2012. 
 
But every sunset has its ensuing sunrise.  My plain hope is that somehow, in some manner, collaborative leadership will emerge at the dawn of 2013.
 
Thanks for reading.  May the fates bless you and yours with an abundance of pleasant sunsets and promising sunrises in the coming New Year.