Timeless truths have a way of sneaking up on you. I was re-reading the poems of Anne Bradstreet, America's first lady of verse, when I came across this among her meditations: "Dim eyes are the concomitants of old age, and shortsightedness in those that are eyes of a republic fortells a declining state."

I immediately read this to Susie, thinking to apply it to the present Administration, which, it occurred to me, doesn't seem to be thinking much beyond the next couple of elections. Susie, however, disagreed. She's persuaded - and now I am, too - that the present Administration has a clear long-term vision of what this nation should be, and it is working as hard as it can to put the pieces in place to ensure success to their project.

The shortsightedness in this scenario is on the part of the electorate, who, if we will allow ourselves to be wowed by the promise of short-term benefits at somebody else's expense, run the risk of forfeiting the long-range health of the economy and the nation.

"We the people" are rapidly becoming "we the dependents" - not the makers of an independent republic, but the takers from what is becoming a nation of elites and serfs. Over 60% of the federal government goes to fund entitlement programs of one kind or another. We keep our bellies full while we drain the reserves from the future. We can see up close and present; it's the future that seems to elude our dim eyes.

God warned Israel about rulers who accrue too much power, garner too much wealth, and end up enslaving our sons and daughters. This would be, I think, a good time to revisit that warning (Deut. 17).

T. M. Moore