Still, Spring has yet to come to our world. The chilling winds of winter still blow across the frozen tundras of this world. There is still unresolved racism. Ethnicism, often colored by religious animosities, still fuels wars and dissolves nations. The influence of the Christian churches appears to continue to wane.
Chronic poverty persists for many.
The plague of AIDS steals across the earth. Economic recession persists. Moral decay appears to be unchecked. In the Western world at least, family breakdown continues unabated. And the young in America are, in large part, raised without clear education in spiritual and moral values.