A porter discovered an unusual way to lighten his load. Whenever he got to an incline he'd add some stones to his load, and continue on his way. When the burden became intolerable, he'd stop and jettison some stones and, feeling much lighter, would continue easily on his way. It seems lightening the load of those carrying heavy burdens, even by just a little, makes a big difference.

Our country is like a porter. In fact we don't even know just how heavy our burden is, and how difficult it is for us to move ahead. Just last week we endured a six-day strike. It was so suffocating that once it was suspended, we felt as though we had no burden at all. This has happened time and again. Stones are added to our burden and then removed, and we feel as if we have obtained some peace. What other consolation do we have?

Our government, in the meanwhile, has focused on getting overloaded vehicles off the road. How about lightening our national burden a little?