Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 November 2000 — Page 2

The Muncie Times, November 16, 2000, page 2

EDITORIAL

Thanksgiving: a time to share food, clothes, everything

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As we think about stuffing ourselves and gouging on all that good food, let us not forget those who are less fortunate than us. Let us think about those who do not have enough to eat or will not be able to feed their families. Let us pause, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, to ponder the fate of those people in the United States and around the world who do not have enough to eat, let alone splurge. They are also God’s children. There are still oeople in this country who live m poverty. They sometimes go to bed Often they have e to live. They are v. , . 1.' £

homeless not because, as former President Ronald Reagan once claimed, they want to but because they have no alternatives. They are down on their luck. * Let us resolve to make Thanksgiving not only an opportunity to talk about and celebrate our material successes but also our moral •obligations. As long as some people have no food, no housing, no clothes, no money, no material possessions or are sick or disabled, we should count our blessings. But we should also go further. We should do everything within our power to share what we have. There is no excuse

for some of us to stuff ourselves with turkey and all the trimmings—to a point where we can hardly move—when other' people in this world are going hungry. Let us start the imminent arrival of the new millennium right—by thinking of our less fortunate friends and neighbors and sharing food and other possessions with those at the bottom rungs of the ladder. No one wants to be poor. No one wants to see himself and his family go without the necessities in life. So, let us remember that those who are at the bottom of the ladder are not necessarily there by choice. They, toe, would love to enjoy

the economic prosperity that the rest of us are enjoying. They, too, would like to have a warm place to live and a refrigerator full of food. It is the measure of a country’s conscience when we take care of those less fortunate than us throughout the year, but especially during these festive times. When we are thanking the Lord for the good things that have happened to us, let us also stop to think about our fellow human beings. Let us give so that they and their families, too, can have something to be thankful about. Now is not the time to be selfish and self-centered. We also have in our midst many people

wonderful opportunity for us to share with them. By contacting the Ball State Center for International Programs (765-285-5422) we can bring joy and cheer to many lonely souls. We can share our bounty with them. We can make them realize what Thanksgiving really means. Instead of letting them share lonely moments alone, we can give them an appreciation of the importance of Thanksgiving in American culture. We can help them learn that having international students among us is a two-way street of joy. We learn about their countries and their cultures, while they imbibe American customs and culture. Is there a better way to enjoy

' ,ie Muftcie Times ace.': gridjbiishes 'Tetters to the or" ides' the foHfwing conditions; S the letter must indicate the iter's name, address and phone number where the writer can be reached during the day. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. * If the writer wishes the letter to be published under a pseudonym, that wish will be honored. However, the writer’s

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Ail correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, The Muncie Times, 1304 N, Broadway, Muncie. IN 47303, f Unsolicited manuscripts will only, be returned if the writer includes a self-addressed, stamped envelope with.correct postage.

MUNCIE TIMES STAFF

Publisher Bea Moten-Foster Editor John T. Lambkun Advertising Bea Moten-Foster and Richard Casey Layout Tina J. Bassett Typesetting Samantha L. Overbay

Contributors: Bea Moten-Foster, Bernice Powelklackson, Dr. T.S. Kumbula, John Lambkun, Judy Mays and Hugh Price. The Muncie Times is published twice monthly at 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, Ind. 47303. It covers the communities of Anderson, Marion, New Castle. Richmond, and Muncie. All editorial correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, The Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303. Telephone (765) 741-0037. Fax (765) 741-0040.

from other countries. At Thanksgiving? Bail State University. That’s what there are many Thanksgiving should be international students, about. Let each one of us Many of them have no do our part toward way to go or nothing to do meeting that simple goal, during the Thanksgiving holiday. That is a

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