The economy is crumbling. Investments are withering. Fear is mounting. Local news has been reporting on a bleak economic forecast all winter long. Hopelessness infiltrates our homes by way of these media driven forces.
You don’t have to sit there feeling helpless and hopeless. This media, The SUN, brings you happier news of a bright, upcoming summer loaded with opportunities. This report comes with assurance, from listening to those who have lived here all their lives through many recessions and some even the great depression. No matter how bad the economy is, people most always make sure their vacation in Wildwood by-the-sea is included on their summer calendar.
Perhaps these people know a truer meaning of the word hope - one that is more helpful for our lives and empowers the right attitude, one that makes all the difference. I don’t mean the kind that hopes to hit the lottery or hopes that the Easter Bunny brings lots of candy, or the kind of hope that is mere wishful thinking. Ben Franklin believed, “that we would die faster if we lived on hope." Friedrich Nietzsche believed, “in reality, hope is the worst of all evils.”
I’m speaking of a Hope that has a confident expectation, a firm assurance, free from the fear and anxiety the world news inflicts. Hope that brings joy and peace. Hope that God promises. Maybe this is the kind of hope that President Obama is referring to when he promises change and encourages us to be hopeful as Americans. This kind of hope causes us to be greater and do greater things because is it rooted in the Truth.
The summer of 2009 forecast at The Sun sees families with carloads of children flowing bumper to bumper onto our island, stampedes of feet hitting the newly renovated world famous Wildwood boardwalk, shopping for souvenirs, eating ice cream, pizza, funnel cakes, burgers & fries. Our forecast promises sunshine and happiness all summer long, with brightlycolored bathing suits and beach-towel clotheslines hanging next to ‘No Vacancy’ signs!
For this Wildwood by-the-sea resident, summertime carries with it the anticipation that soon our sleepy little town will awaken to a new spirit. Businesses will open as the smell of fresh paint mixes with the salt air, and the sounds of activity will be heard along with the humming of the waves lapping against the shore. . . it’s the homecoming of spring. Visitors and summer home owners will fill the once-desolate streets, riding in on the same wave with Eastertide, carrying the promises of Hope, knowing with certainty that the Sun is always shining in the Wildwoods!
I remember reading somewhere that we resonate to the season in which we were born. Maybe that’s why I can’t wait for summertime! A 95° day is never too hot for me, I think, as I sit here at my desk on this sub-freezing Groundhog Day, layered in turtleneck and leggings in hopes of feeling warm. The thought alone of the easy pace of summertime warms me up inside. Here’s hoping that the groundhog was right and, as I write this, there really are only 6 weeks of winter left.
Enjoy your first issue of the year, woven together with much Hope and lots of Love.
Coming Soon… Summertime!
Hope The SUN brightens your day!
Publisher, editor, and artist
The SUN by-the–sea, , WILDWOOD, NJ
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