Perplexed in Louisiana

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” ― attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville
Are you ever confronted with a situation which just makes you bury your face in your hands and say to yourself, “I’m just confused; I have nothing to draw from, no way to look at this.” I felt that way on a recent trip to Louisiana. Please allow me to push back and give the context. We are enormously blessed to live in our nation, built upon the collective strengths of millions of individuals. So when one asks the question, “How does America thrive going forward?” the answer is simple, continue to do what our experience has shown to us to work. 
Last month, Patricia and I were on the family farm to attend the high school graduation of our grandchildren, Collin and Isabella.
While on the farm, the wife of the caretaker asked me to ride with her to deliver food to a family who lived out in the country. When we arrived, we were greeted by a man and wife in their late 30s, and a half dozen children, ranging in age from, I’d say, 8 to 18.
As we handed them the food, they politely thanked us. Feeling apologetic, the father offered that there was no work available close by, and the only thing he could find was an hour’s drive away, in Shreveport, and he had no car.
All the while that I’m experiencing this out-of-the-ordinary situation to me, I’m asking myself,   “How do we do what’s best for this family and for our society?  If we don’t help, what is to become of the children?” We could also just as well ask, “If we do help, what is to become of the children?” While standing in the front yard, the sheriff happened by and told us privately, “It’s a good thing that you are doing, because of the children.”  If we don’t provide for them, they not only go hungry but may turn to ravaging their neighbors out of desperation. If we do feed them, the children may learn the wrong life lesson about how to thrive.
On the drive back to the farm, Sarah asked me, “Am I doing the right thing?” I made no response because my mind was a jumble of thoughts.
On the one hand, we could help the father to get a car to get to Shreveport, but is he responsible enough to get up on time to be at work every day? When the car needs service, will he show responsibility?
Questions, questions, questions.
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I read the other day that 13 counties in the nation have reinstituted the work requirement for able-bodied adults without children to draw food stamps, resulting in 85 percent fewer recipients. This strikes me as a good thing. It might not be the solution for the family situation above, but for single people, it sets them on a productive track, so that when they have children, they will be demonstrating to them how to be self-reliant, responsible members of society.
For the good of our nation’s people and the nation as a whole, we must remain strong at the individual level, while never losing our compassion. Nobody said it would be easy.
Art Hall
From the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13:12-13  Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.