We interrupt this program....

I know, you were looking for more assistance and you do not understand this interruption.  Well, stay tuned, this is extremely important:

                                      THE PARABLE OF THE ENGLISH FOX HUNT

I trust you have heard of them.  The "upper class" among the so-called elite, often gather together for a fox hunt and without any thought to the major expenses involved, they purchase the best horses, employ the most successful riders and make certain their dogs are trained by the finest trainers available in all of England.  The date for the hunt is established, the prize turns out to be a record high and everyone in all of England awaits the outcome.  Especially those who have invested the most money.  Little do they know of the efforts of those who are least prepared to win the race without all of the other, extensive expenses involved.

The date arrives and has finally come to be.  The horses are well groomed, the riders look immaculate in their fancied up, but official uniforms while the families of the investors are eager to discover which dog will win and how large the final purse will be.

Little do any of them know of the unscrupulous competition that is about to be unleashed.

As the fox is loosed and the horses are freed to chase, the race is on.

About a hundred yards from the start, just out of sight of the audience, a rabbit is loosed and crosses the path of the dogs.  Dogs being dogs, about a third of them, sense that smell and stop chasing the fox and set out after the less craftier and easier prey and their part in the ultimate race is over.

Another hundred yards along the path being set by the fox, another rabbit is loosed and another third of the dogs give up that chase and head for that other rabbit and eventually are also lost to the race.

Further along, another rabbit is loosed and now half of the dogs remaining are out of the ultimate race.

And finally, the slowest dog in the race stumbles upon the weary fox and is declared the winner.

And so it goes, too often in life as we know it.

A bright young student in high school or college is being applauded for his efforts and the grades he has amassed and everyone predicts great things, based on what has been seen, so far.  Few however know of the highly educated, beautiful young girl who has captured his heart and in the process of conveying their love, she becomes pregnant and there are problems.  So now, he turns down the lucrative job in another city and takes a job at Wal-Mart so he could be closer to his family.  There are new complications to follow and so it goes, he continues in mediocre jobs, trying to keep the family together, never realizing the predictions that others held for the two of them.

And there was a bright young woman who graduated at the top of her class in Nursing school and was highly recruited by some of the most successful hospitals in the nation, but rejected all of them to join a medical missionary group in Africa.  While it was an exciting experience and she expected to stay with them as a career, she contracted a mysterious new malady that was unknown to the science of her day.  Rather than achieving her goals and those of her loving family at home, she returned to the States and remained, a specimen for the efforts of others to discover the source of her disease.

Fictitious examples, of course, but similar situations occur in every city and town across our great nations, virtually every day, to people whose dreams of success often fall prey to the unforeseen events in our daily lives.

"I didn't know she not going to stop, so I continued to turn, and now I will be spending the rest of my life in this wheel chair," he told me.  "OK, I replied, "so let's see what we can do about creating a career for you that centers on your situation."  Another piece of fiction, to be certain, but the question remains, what we can do for you, the reader, and others in need of the assistance we have to offer?

Or will you let it pass and remain with those who believe so ardently in themselves that they will join the ranks of those who agree with Humpty Dumpty, who was said to proclaim:  "We are the masters of the moment, and not only at the moment, but for a very long time."  (709-27, DoQ)  As I recall, as the story goes, "All the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again."