KENNETT, Mo. -- Given the rapid -- one could also say dazzling -- times in which we live these days, it might be wise to pause and give thought to all that's happening around us -- just for the record, you know, because you and I are constantly finding ourselves busying about, tending to tasks that might seem mundane when considered from the purview of history books, but which, nevertheless, seem important at the moment, even to the point of crowding out occurrences that otherwise would be remarkable.

Whether we were realizing it at the moment, the recent Sept. 11 ceremonies not only marked the anniversary of an historically tragic event claiming the lives of some 3,000 innocent fellow human beings, it also marked the finale of the era of American indifference to the rest of the world.

Oh, I know we had the Marshall Plan after World War II and we have long been engaged in supplying emergency assistance to disaster-stricken nations that we couldn't even locate on a map. But after Sept. 11, America will pay much more attention to other nations and their transformations than before. And that's good, don't you think? Contrary to popular opinion, the heavens don't orbit a map of the United States.

To compound the troubling nature of our world today is the ever-present condition of the element of surprise, and we are slowly learning that this sometimes unwelcome shadow on our lives pays no respect to nations, their leaders, our communities, often striking as close as our own families. The historic e-pluribus-unum promise is capable of being inflicted at any time, we witness the changing fortunes of those on whom the sun was consistently shining. The billionaire corporate chairman, his reputation as bereft of success as his boardroom conduct, must deal with disaster in the same way that a minimum-wage earner handles his dismissal from a job he hates but which is essential to sustain his wife and three children.

Only a brief moment ago, America was celebrating the claimed resolution of a problem that had worried virtually all of us and which even held the potential for the bankruptcy of our central government. President after president had handed the national deficit over to his successor, but eventually enough alterations were effected to change federal debt to federal surplus. Even as we were rejoicing the deficit's disappearance, there it was again, affecting every taxpayer, every welfare recipient, every state government in the nation, every widow barely balancing a checkbook until the next Social Security check, every cancer-ridden patient whose life is measured by the speed of medical research and treatment.

In some sense, each of us is traveling down a life's highway, anticipating the next fork in the road that, somehow, sometime, some way, will straighten our lives and resolve problems in ways that seem to escape our moments of achievement.

Unfortunately our moments of surprise are seldom accompanied by insights gained by those who can make a difference in our nation's future and, just as importantly, in the lives of average Americans, regardless of their station. We desperately need leaders who inspire confidence, offer common sense solutions for difficult problems, and who reach out to every corner of our nation, without regard of lobbyists, future political alliances or standings in public opinion polls.

Have we had such leaders? I will leave it to readers to make their own nominations, while admitting that I can certify none since Lincoln and the preceding founding fathers. Some are merely better than others; none makes the mark of guiding light motivated only by unrequited service to the public.

Our own state of Missouri, while blessed with the successes of preceding governors and dedicated civic leaders, now finds itself in a position not unlike our central government. Progress appears in small, detached areas of public governance, measuring the success of such unlikely categories as public funded tax gifts to favored corporate applicants, more and more state employees, more and more cells for drug-habitable prisoners, the occasional replacement of a century-old bridge.

In the meantime, the tax-favored industries are learning profits come not from tax concessions but from intelligent, experienced corporate planners, that there is little connection between the growth of state payrolls and the services provided constituents, that drug-induced crimes are not thwarted by threats of more time behind bars, that highways are essential to their users and should be funded by them as well.

Neither can we educate new generations with only for-profit corporations; learning is not the result of corporate efficiency but wise parenting, safe neighborhoods, dedicated teachers, curriculum dedication and motivation. All the money in the world will not educate a single child who never experiences the magic of splendid teachers, the thrill of self-improvement, the desire to learn and never stop.

Governments at all levels of jurisdiction are meant to serve and enhance the lives of everyone, not immortalize their leaders; governmental services are designed to deliver essentials to the deserving, not increase corporate profits or build private baseball stadiums. In Missouri it's possible for citizens to die of starvation or the lack of medical attention in the shadow of publicly subsidized athletic stadiums.

I'm afraid we will forget the really important lessons of Sept. 11, along with those of July 4 and Dec. 7. We have not, as some have insisted, reached the end of history. Rather we have passed through troubling, sometimes horrifying, portions of it, with chapters yet to be written, a task those living have been assigned.

Each of us has been handed pen and paper, along with Jefferson's meaningful reminder: "The dreams of the future are better to record than the history of the past." Amen, Tom.

Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News & Editorial Service.