Choir Notes

The Herald of Prosperity
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • 4300

Just as individuals can overcome hardship and surmount challenges, so can communities and nations. Very often, it is in the soil of difficulty that the fruit of resilience and progress grows.

Nearly a hundred years ago, the cotton crops of Enterprise, Alabama, were devastated by a boll weevil infestation. The area’s economy was shattered, and many farmers faced bankruptcy. But rather than give in to despair and hopelessness, the citizens of Enterprise were true to their name and went to work, turning to peanuts and other crops to replace the cotton.

A few years later, the county was producing and harvesting more peanuts than any other region in the United States. In gratitude and recognition, residents erected on Main Street the world’s only monument to an agricultural pest: the Boll Weevil Monument. It is a symbol of a community’s "willingness and ability to adjust to adversity,” a memorial to civic resilience and progress. Inscribed on the base of the monument are the words "In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.”1

What happened in that small, aptly named city is a reminder to each of us today: when faced with adversity, if we come together as communities and nations, strengthen our resolve, and refuse to give up, who knows what might happen? As citizens rally around common causes that promote the well-being of all, miraculous things can take place. From rubble can come new growth, from difficulty can come new opportunity, from setbacks can come stepping-stones to prosperity. Indeed, what seems difficult, even impossible, can become a new, positive reality.

If you doubt it, think of the lesson of the boll weevil and the people of Enterprise, Alabama, from decades ago.

1 "History of Enterprise,” www.cityofenterprise.net