Public Comment

Each day I wait to see relief on the faces of people who are hoping to get their needs for survival met by other kind people but at the end of the day most of them are still desperate and depressed. I always thought life is lived now first and that today's needs are more important than needs of the unseen tomorrow. Our readers of the U.S. Constitution remind us of the unseen tomorrow by ignoring today for the one-third of the U.S. that lives in poverty. Ask those about tomorrow whose child went to sleep without food. Ask those about tomorrow whose child is undernourished and sick. Will the child keep alive without help until tomorrow? Well, the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. People who sit in Congress or govern the country may not have ever missed a meal in their lives. They may never have gaped in bewilderment at the sky. 

I can imagine the urgency of stabilizing the economy and creating a congenial atmosphere for the lucky few. But what about the low-income people in our country? Who will worry about whether the benefits of a stable economy trickle down to them? 

When I was translating the Bible for a church during my college years in India, I learned that true believers do unto other needy people as they would wish done to them if they were down and out. I was so impressed with the Christian church practicing kindness to their less fortunate neighbors, sacrificing their best for the betterment of others. Worldly fortunes will stay here in the world but the example of helping others will become an eternal inspiration. Sometimes when we are busy thinking about ourselves, we forget to feel for others. I hope rich and powerful people in our country will remember the poor and the needy as they urge the nation forward. 

Romila Khanna