A 2010 trend forecast for America

Paul,

If I get the call, I would like you and Jane to come to the installation. It would be wonderful to see you. If you are spending January in Florida, I'll try to arrange it so the installation falls later one when you can make it - and since I'm kind of in charge these days, I can probably make that happen.

I have been paying attention to some demographic research done on the area surrounding Mayville, Horicon, Iron Ridge, and Beaver Dam, but mostly in the area bounded by Horicon-Mayville-Iron Ridge. The Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) provides access to LCMS churches to demographic studies done by a marketing firm. Along with other trends and economic issues, it looks as if the area has potential for growth in the next 5-10 years. The manufacturing base is solid and my son, Jonathan, who is studying Manufacturing Engineering at Northern Iowa, says that the people in his department are very familiar with the area because they are doing a lot of recruiting of UNI grads in the manufacturing engineering and technology majors.

On top of that trend, with the potential for very hard economic times facing the nation, it is quite possible that people will be leaving the cities - Milwaukee in particular, but, potentially, also Madison and Green Bay - and heading into the smaller towns and cities across the state where jobs appear to be more available and people watch out for one another and band together to help those in need. There is also a safety issue, because if the economy tanks much further, the potential for unrest in the streets in Milwaukee and Madison, and most places where there is a significant "inner city, poor, uneducated, minority majority." That means that there may be some flight to the small cities, towns, and rural communities - leading to growth and increased economic pressure on those places. The leadership challenges and spiritual challenges will incrementally grow - we are going to need effective, moral, ethical, and spiritual leaders with good leadership skills to help our communities weather that type of storm.

Of course, what I have just stated is purely speculative, but, as Jesus noted to the Pharisees and scribes - they knew how to read the signs - the signs that we are seeing today in our nation, regardless of the effect of the election just recently past, may well bode ill for our immediate future. I share this with you because it will leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs such as you that will be critical to the nation's ability to weather the storms and come out at the other end stronger, more focused, and a more solid Republic in the manner which our Constitution is supposed to preserve and the founders envisioned.

Well, I'm rambling now. As I am not God and have not received a call from Him to be a prophet, I can only surmise and speculate based upon what I see and hear. As a student of history, however (and I know you are as well), it would be foolish to ignore the signs around us. For all the negatives that fellow Glenn Beck has, he has a finger on good information and I've found, recently, that my own research has confirmed, so far, everything I have heard from him.