Receipts

Last night I was doing homework for my Greek mythology class when a receipt tumbled out of the book and onto the floor. I picked it up, and it made me smile because that little book by Edith Hamilton has been one of the highlights of my week.

You see, I have had gross delays in getting my financial aid straightened out. First one thing and another has kept me from assurance that my college bill will be covered this semester. So I spent a considerable part of yesterday afternoon researching my classes to see which ones had required books that cost less so that I could get them in time to keep up with the work. When I came across the class for Greek and Roman mythology, I threw my head back and laughed, because the only requirement was a little $5 book. Unbelievable! Some of the books I have been required to purchase have cost $100 USED, and no bookstore was allowed to sell them any lower because of the deals that had been cut with the publisher.

Even better, this little book had a receipt from my sister's college days. She had used the book for her Greek mythology class, and she paid the bill with the funding she had received for her education. The bill had been paid, and here was this receipt letting me know that my sister had taken care of it. Someone else had helped me a little in my education, and I am very, very grateful. Thank you, sis.

There are many things that work that way. The democracy and the freedoms that we enjoy here in America are a lot like that little book. When our freedoms are threatened and we have to work a little harder to maintain the free society that has been established, a little receipt might fall out of the social studies book or the US government book that we are studying. It says - Deposit paid... by untold heroes who have given their lives and sacrificed many comforts to pay the price to keep our land free. Any one of us might be required to make a payment, but isn't the freedom of our children and their children's children worth suffering a little bit for a little while?