Waiting Here in Allentown

As a means of preparing this writing, I took a few moments to read over the lyrics to Billy Joel's "Allentown." Truthfully, even after several visits to The Queen City, I had never really listened to this work... until now. It has an uncanny way of perfectly tying into my thoughts for this evening.

We had planned the trip for weeks. A group of us would all take a road trip to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley as we visited the sights and sounds around Allentown, PA. I always do enjoy driving to this part of the country, and we were all looking forward to a memorable day. Now there were a number a good, memorable moments, but some of the things we had planned turned out to be nothing more than disappointments. 

One of the saddening parts of the day was the City of Allentown itself. A once thriving metropolis  now contains endless reminders of "what could have been." You see, the area once thrived with mills and factories; it was a successful manufacturing town. Then in the 1970s, those centers for productivity closed. Jobs, which were once plentiful, suddenly disappeared. In its wake, the city's economy began to decline. Quality of life was not what it was for many. The city itself began to suffer. While there have been efforts to revitalize Allentown, much of the area still bears the scars from those turbulent decades of the late 20th century. Instead of a burgeoning flurry of new construction, the landscape is dotted with shabby, rundown buildings - a sign pointing to yesterday. Allentown could very well recover in due time, but they still have much work to do.

Life is going to throw curve balls at us from time to time. The things which we've grown used to having in our lives may suddenly disappear without warning. Just like those who lost their jobs in Allentown so many years ago, life has a way of suddenly turning dark for us, too. We can react in one of two ways. We can let those atrocities break us down and tear us apart, or we can get back up to start again. Friends, it's not necessarily the number of times that we are beaten down that matters. It's how we respond to those moments of struggle that determines the depth of our character.

When people look at us, what will they see? Will they see something like those rundown buildings of Allentown... the remnants of a once purposeful life? Or will they see a life filled with energy... direction.. passion?

We may get knocked down a time or two, but we must remember that staying on the ground solves nothing. It is get up and stand once again.