God Bless America

I just returned home from the country of Nepal.  I spent three and a half weeks visiting the city of Kathmandu, delivering supplies to an orphanage and trekking through the Everest region of the Himalayan Mountains.  When I got home, I kissed the ground at JFK airport in New York.

Nepal is the third poorest country in the world.  The city of Kathmandu is home to 4.4 million people.  They are crowded into an urban jungle. The city has two hours of electricity every day.  It comes on at random times.  There is no clean drinking water.  Indoor plumbing is limited by western standards.  The country had a two day supply of fuel to fill the tanks of the millions of motorcycles and cars clogging the streets every day.  Those vehicles spew pollution into the air making it difficult to breath.  Trash is thrown into the streets.  It is then burned or shoveled into trucks and carted away.

A Maoist revolution two years ago has left the country in political turmoil.  There are twenty eight political parties that have spent the past two years attempting to ratify a constitution.  Most of the political parties are socialist.  In spite of this, capitalism is alive and thriving.  The streets are filled with tiny storefronts selling everything you could imagine.  If there are 4.4 million people in Kathmandu, it seems that everyone of them owns a small shop that will sell you something.  Nepalis seem to want the same thing we do, the ability to provide for our loved ones and family.

In contrast to their daily lives, the people of Nepal are rich.  Their wealth does not come from the size of their bank accounts.  They are endowed with an inner peace that helps them survive the daily chaos.  They are grateful for what they have.  Perhaps it is their Buddhist or Hindu religions that provide their spiritual strength.  Whatever the reason, I returned home with a new appreciation for what we have in the United States of America.

Last Tuesday evening I was blessed with the Honor of attending Monogram Night at Oliver Ames High School.  The evening is a longstanding tradition that honors the senior athletes at OA.  It was a privilege to be standing among so many fine young men and women.  As they were called to the stage, their parents looked on with pride.

At that moment, I reflected back on the past month.  Through the miracle of birth we live in a country were anything is possible.  Every day we wake up, we are given a gift.  Cherish it.

God Bless America

Peace"