A legacy can be a wonderful thing. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines legacy as “A bequest, a gift by will; something received from an ancestor or predecessor.” A legacy could be property or financial assets, great literature or works of art, or something more transcendental, such as a good name, a wonderful example, or a philosophy of life and how to live it.

In this time when we are all being urged to "go green" in every part of our daily lives, we may lose sight of the word picture painted in Psalm 23, which is probably the most oft quoted Psalm in the Bible. I like the way it is expressed in the old English hymn by William Havergal, a well-known writer of hymns (1793–1870).

More human beings have been killed in war and genocide from World War I to now than ever before in the same span of time. Warfare, natural disasters, religious confusion and religious strife, economic calamity, immorality and famine all seem to be increasing. Prophecy is clearly marching forward. Has the second seal been opened? Has the Red Horse been released?

The torrent of sickening images of death and destruction in Haiti just keep on coming. Search and rescue operations have become grisly recovery operations, as the dead are removed from the rubble of collapsed buildings.

As we begin 2010, I think it is good to take a look back. What a decade it has been!  Just think, September 11, 2001 was a turning point for the United States and for the world. Now wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag painfully on. The world's economies are in shambles. We see increasing unemployment, bank failures, major manufacturers in bankruptcy, and government agencies floundering as they try to solve problems, only to create news ones.

Sadly, the United States is a deeply divided nation today.