Have Faith

Today I'd like to talk about faith. Faith in people, faith in God and faith in our country and its leaders. I've got a news flash for you - our country is in trouble, BIG trouble. "No kidding?" you think, and then brush my words aside.

My question to you would be, "So what are YOU doing to help out? What are YOU doing to ensure that our country will head in a proper direction? Or are you just a sit-down, whimpering, point-the-finger crybaby who does nothing but complain about the state of the nation and leaves all the work to 'someone more qualified'?

In the Spring of 1945 when World War II ended, the world was in a state of shock. The approximate global population at that time was close to two trillion people. The United States lost over 418,000 men and women, both military and civilian, during the war. Worldwide an estimated 75 million people died.

75 million! It boggled the mind then. It still does today. Although other places felt the brunt of the fighting and lost whole towns, America still reeled over its losses. The whole country felt a sadness and deep scarring. People had come together in a common cause to help furnish those fighting with all the equipment and clothing they needed to keep fighting the fight.

Many would not see their loved ones come home alive. Those that did were welcomed but still found it hard to adjust. They had to suck it up and try to move on. There were no resources available to them such as there are now. It was another time, a slower time, and as far as I'm concerned, a more respectful time.

In the following decade the situation in this country began very slowly to return to some sense of normalcy. Many people thrived and rebuilt their lives. People remembered the cost in lives lost. They reached out and neighbor helped neighbor.

And so what does all that have to do with today? What's the point of bringing up a war that happened almost 70 years ago?

This country wasn't rebuilt by people alone. This country was rebuilt by people with faith - faith in themselves, faith in each other and faith in their homeland. I ran across an ad campaign that had been launched in the early 50s. What amazed me the most was not so much the ads themselves as the company who sponsored them. It was the Texas and Pacific Railway. The ads appeared in magazines from the Saturday Evening Post to U.S. News and World Report.

They are a poignant glimpse into a time where it was neither censored nor vulgar to publicly solicit prayer as a helpful tool in recovering from the trauma of the war. Perhaps there is no one left to remember this. Maybe it's time for another such campaign. I share them with you today because they touched my heart. In some way, I hope they touch yours too.

I am sorry I don't have credits for each one individually. I know that one illustrator was Reismer. And the list of magazines they appeared in are as follows, but I do not know if it is a complete listing: The Saturday Evening Post, American Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine and The New York Herald Tribune newspaper. (Please click on each picture to enlarge them. The content is as timely today as it was then.)

As you will see, the ad campaign was titled "Have Faith." I encourage each one of you to read each ad, copy them, distribute them and take them into your hearts.