Berlin Wall Destruction

It has been 20 years since the destruction of the Berlin Wall. I mentioned in an earlier blog that Bill and I visited East Berlin with my parents one year before the wall came down. Our mission was to see the birthplace of Bach in the town of Eisenach, and the castle where Martin Luther threw his inkwell at the Devil. The guards nearly tore my Dad's car apart before we were allowed to enter East Germany. It was a tense experience. We were stopped every few miles to show that we had appropriate papers. I will never forget how depressing the country was. Every car looked alike, there was little meat, no fruit, and smiles were a rare sight. The leadership of East Germany was sincerely trying to spread the wealth, and meet the needs of all of their citizens. However, the ideal didn't quite work out the way they had imagined it would. Something was wrong!

For the past year, America has experienced a steep economic downturn due to corporate greed and displays of self-centeredness. This has caused me to think about the nature of man. It seems to me that both Communism and Democracy can go miserably wrong because people are people! One can find leaders in China and North Korea who are NOT watching out for "the common man" just as you can in America. So, before we try to change the entire constitution of the U.S. and "throw the baby out with the bathwater", maybe the hearts of men need to be changed. Loving our neighbors as ourselves might be a better solution. Of course, that is very difficult if one does not believe in "the help of God."