Cord Byrd: “the great English novelist, Charles Dickens, began his epic novel, ``A Tale of Two Cities,'' with these words, ``It was…”

“the great English novelist, Charles Dickens, began his epic novel, ``A Tale of Two Cities,'' with these words, ``It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . .'' Well over a century later, and a continent away from the writing of Dickens' story, those words could well describe the plight of our nation in the last year of the 20th century. That is this century--the last year of the 20th century. The United States has never been more affluent, in terms of material wealth and creature comforts, or more impoverished in terms of spiritual well-being. It is the best of times materially. It is the worst of times spiritually. Millions are made daily on Wall Street, American consumerism fuels booming international economic and trade markets, and our Nation's living standard is the envy of the world. We have eliminated our staggering deficits at home, at least on paper, and jobs are available for our people in abundance. Yet, America is, in many ways, a hollow nation. We are a people on the edge of a precipice. Despite all of our economic prosperity, despite all of our fascination with the glittery toys that money can buy us, despite all of the accouterments of success and prosperity, so envied by the rest of the world, all of the material comforts we so enthusiastically chase, can never pacify the hunger beginning to emerge in our collective souls, nor even start to solve the endemic problems which crowd the dark corners of our national psyche.…”