HEAVENLY DESTINY AND ICE CREAMING SLIPPINY SLIPPING AWAY

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..........fought Indians and journeyed the rivers. Sitting in large comfortable seats, this journey took them to the ancient world to fight with the gladiators and for the Christians or slaves against the tyranny of Rome, to battle against the Nazis on the beaches and in the forests of Europe.

           Now as young adults dreaming of a future, Ethan and Patricia find success difficult to measure in their constant struggle, chasing material goals. 

           Once waking up each morning greeting each other with a smile and a kiss is becoming a memory. Complacency overwhelms them. Feeling small, they do. Each day appears to be spoiling the future.

           Their bodies, their minds, their souls, everything about Ethan and Patricia grow tired with a sense of no power to make things better. People who are cherished seem to receive less love in a game of life where the goal has become not to lose.

          Poor housing, hunger, poor childcare, unsafe neighborhoods, under sourced schools bringing on cognitive, emotional and health related issues are becoming for Ethan and Patricia a fear, once unknown to them.

           Ethan and Patricia have eyes and ears, but they see and hear a surrounding world of plenty for other people with no place for them. That which was told to them by people once trusted, that America is a country of fairness for those working hard is seen as a fairness not for them. 

           Ethan and Patricia were told of a country with abundant resources and opportunities, but they live without resources and dwindling opportunities. Their children, they fear, will grow up thinking this is the way it was meant to be losing the vitality Ethan and Patricia once knew all so well. 

            Ethan and Patricia cannot pursue their earthly destiny, let alone their heavenly destiny, when they struggle each day to make ends meet.

            We can do better. We can imagine doing better. And we can make that imagined real. The Will within waits to be used. 

            This seems to describe a worthy goal but how can this goal be achieved if always working to pay the rent, worried about mother’s failing kidneys, child’s school being substandard. Sleep is no more.      

             Dreams are gone. Relaxation is a distant memory. Baseball is not for you. The American Dream is not on your horizon. Your children are disappointed in you. The peace and solitude of the church experience once known no longer comforts.

                                                                                            CHAPTER THREE

                                                                                       NO MORE ICE CREAM

           What Ethan and Patricia did as children, what they dreamt of, is no longer possible. Taking their daughter to see Snow White is financed with the credit card. Baseball games no longer are free on television. Quality of life has changed and not for the better. 

           Health consequences, physical and mental, also are to be considered. The lives of family members have changed, impacting their lives such as grandmom’s failing kidneys having been poisoned by lifetime use of plastic products.

          As lovers of family Sunday evenings sharing ice cream, the sharing of an ice cream cone is no more. In 1970 a single scoop ice cream cone typically cost around 25 to 30 cents. In 2024 this cost rose to around $5.00. 

          That price of 25 cents in 1970 adjusted for inflation should be $1.75 in 2024 dollars. The actual cost of $5.00 indicates the cost of ice cream has increased faster than the average rate of inflation.

          In 1991 the average major league baseball ticket was roughly $9.00. In 2024 it is $38.00. In 1960 a family of four could see a baseball game for about $10.35. By 2022, the Fan Cost Index for tickets, hot dogs, sodas and parking for a family of four jumped to over $200.00.

           The average movie ticket 20 years ago was $6.21. In 2024, it stands at over $10.70.