SCOTT DEPOT, WV (ANS) -- Our attention has turned toward Wall Street and its effect on Main Street, your street and my street. What will be the fallout and lasting impact?

Recently Joe asked, “Will I ever get to vote for somebody for president?” My immediate answer was, “You can do that on Tuesday, November 4.” He responded, “There is nobody to vote for. All I ever get to do is to vote against somebody. I want to be for somebody.”

It is important that everybody vote. Here are some suggestions about voting.

1. Remember that it is a priceless privilege. Blood, lots of it, has been spilled on dozens of battlefields to secure our freedom.

2. Be properly registered to vote legally. Fraudulently cooked up illegal names by the millions will probably be on voter registration rolls this year. If you know of any crookedness, report it immediately to somebody like the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

3. Study the candidates and find out, if possible, what they actually believe. We all may know of candidates we simply do not trust.

4. No one political party has a stranglehold on vice or virtue.

5. Help elect candidates on every level who are decent and honorable people who love our nation and have some degree of concerned intelligence. We get far too many second and third rate men and women in the halls of government.

6. Do not vote into office those who team up with anti-American crooks. If candidates are not as “clean as a hound’s tooth” they do not deserve to be elected.

7. Once you enter the voting booth, you may vote for whomever you wish and only God will ever know.

Robert H. Schuller’s best-selling book, Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!, is being revived and widely read. With millions of people frustrated and stressed, this book offers explicit help.

Centuries ago, from the despair of a lonely cave, David, cried out, “No one cares for my soul” (Psalm 142:4). In such times anger, animosity and anxiety tend to explode and the consequences can be eternally damaging.

In the most trying and difficult times of life it pays to listen to people of sound and positive experience. Anybody can talk loud and long and say nothing that will offer any real help.

Years ago, I met a man of intelligence and profound wisdom. W. Albert Donaldson was never loud or long. He gave serious and researched thought to everything he said. In his book, You Can Hope Again, he wrote, “We simply must have hope. Without it the world has no meaning, existence no peace, and death no refuge.”

The Washington to which I refer is not the one where the United States Congress meets and which has had far too many men and women who were sleeping soundly when we got into the financial mess our nation is in today. How can we expect them to get us up and going again when they apparently have no idea what happened? Let’s hope the House and Senate will wake up as well as the church.

I like George Washington, the first President of the United States, who when the Colonies were discussing the possibility of breaking ties with England, recorded in his diary on June 1, 1774: “Went to church and fasted all day.” He was a man of integrity, intelligence, wisdom and faith -- the kind of person we always need as our president.

Years after David cried out for help, Peter wrote advisedly about “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7). There is hope. There are those who care. If we make the right decisions when we vote we can elect leaders who can lead us through our present troubles.

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Bill Ellis is a syndicated columnist, and convention and conference speaker on every continent. He is the writer of more than 1600 columns and widely known as a motivator utilizing enjoyment of life and just plain fun and laughter while speaking to high school, university and professional sports teams as well as to business and professional groups of all kinds. His keen understanding of human problems make him a favorite speaker for youth, parent, and senior adult meetings. He is accompanied by Kitty, his wife, favorite singer, editor and publisher. For information on becoming a subscriber to the Ellis Column for your newspaper or magazine, you may contact him at: BILL ELLIS, P.O.Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560 or by calling: 304-757-6089.