Just a short generation ago, Made In America meant something. And where you bought it did too, and Sears was the largest retailer in the US of A. And had been for many generations. Outliving its main competitors, Woolworth on the lower end, and Montgomery Wards-or Monkey Wards as it was affectionately known, they sold high quality products, at a fair price. Very rarely discounting. And for almost 70 years were the mainstay of quality in America. True, the vacuum they sold you may only last 20 years before they could sell you another, but you told your friends and family, who would shop there, and more than made up for the many you buy now in the same 20 year period. Repeat customers, who bought other items, not the same one over and over. Craftsman tools-still guaranteed for life, and if you find an old broken, rusty one at a flea market, buy it-and then they will replace it for free-still! Tools that would not wear out after the first two uses due to substandard standards in the third world country they were built in. Made for life, not just to complete the job at hand. And long before they boxes showed Made In America, they showed cities in the states where they were made, by people who bought local, long before all the money went overseas, to some nameless corporation that you couldn't pronounce. Shoes made with pride in New England factories. Sheets and towels made in the Carolinas-remember Dan River? Clothes made in small towns throughout the northeast, in mills manned by women like my Nana. Pride sewn into each garment, as it had her name on it. Cotton from the south, and plastics from Delaware, we never had to go out of our country for anything-for God had shed His grace on us from the iron mines in Michigan to the cotton fields in the south. Cars manufactured in Detroit, assembled from parts made in places like Muncie, Tonowanda, Meridian, and Saginaw. Designed, engineered, and built in America. And parked in the garages of homes, where the lumber came from US forests in the northwest. Watching TV sets made in places like Indianapolis, Chicago, and even Los Angeles. Instructions that came in English, and phones answered at the stores by a person, who would direct your call-not some choice by a computer. A person, who cared, and if couldn't help, got you someone who could-and would.
And as I travel the great US of A, I see these same cities now in ruin. The factories gone, the jobs overseas. Where the mills were, now are warehouses full of off shore products. And sadly, the only thing we cannot import, and don't, are jobs, to replace the ones we sent out of the United States, all because it could be done cheaper-but never better. Built to a price, instead of a standard, until price became the standard. And Wal-mart, who once bragged about selling Made in the USA products, became a leisure activity of China. Lower your price, and you have to lower your standards, just to be competitive and stay in business. And when you start to compromise, where do you stop?
And we watch today as a company's stock rises due to high profits, saving money by not hiring people. Or moving to Mexico where SONY pays people 80 cents an hour to build big screen TV's. We have truly lost our way-and truly, the love of money is proving to be the root of all evil. I rather pay too much than too often.
Ever since the beginning, God has had a consistent quality-love. And perfection, one that He desires, but without Jesus in our lives we can never attain. And He chose to market that through His family, His believers. And they were found in local churches, in congregations who used to make pasties for the mill workers. women who would sew, knit, and crochet for the less fortunate. Food pantries for the hungry, and wise counsel for the hurting. And not just in churches, but from public officials, before the freedom of religion became freedom from religion. When sorry meant repenting of sin, rather than saying sorry because they got caught. Where character counted, and towns got together to pray, to support each other, and to console those who were hurting. Where if one was hurt, we all felt it-but when one rejoiced, we all celebrated also.
But sadly, when God was removed from schools, they went in the toilet. When the Ten Commandments are removed from a court, the justice suffers. And just like a town that loses its factory, the people slip into poverty-except it is a moral poverty, one harder to escape from then anything financial.
Today I encourage you to take the advice of Jesus. Feed one who is hungry. Visit one who is sick. Write to an inmate. Give a drink to one who is thirsty. And welcome a stranger, make them feel welcome in your neighborhood, church, or your home. Jesus said "whoever does this to the least of these, does it to me." Take care of needs here, before we have missionaries to the US of A, because we have exported all of our ministries off shore. Shop local, live local, love and minister local. For just as a man who doesn't care for his family is worse than an infidel, those who don't accept the call here, may have a long wait before it comes from another place. We will have become the infidels. Do you see China or India exporting missionaries to us? Did you ever think Hyundai would make a luxury car?
But by then it will be too expensive, no matter the price. For now, the only thing you should export is love-to everyone you meet. No matter where they were made. And remember, wherever you are is local.
love with compassion,
Mike
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