Nor is this story is about those Americans who abandoned their responsibilities as citizens to put in the time it takes to know and understand the truth about what they are paying for, voting for, and supporting, i.e., the Americans who were so willingly and easily duped when all the real evidence was staring them in the face if they had just opened their eyes.

The real story is that George Bush and his minions successfully sold the American people on the idea that they can and should rule the world. That is what was being pushed by everyone: media, business, and the government -- and that is what the American people swallowed -- hook, line, and sinker. And that is what is still being pushed, and that is what the American people still believe.

But we must not give George Bush too much credit or blame. He is only the latest of a long line of people who have pushed that same idea.

We need a leader supported by a strong team who will start leading in a new direction. We need a leader who will tell the truth and who has the ability and courage to communicate the truth. That leader has been here but is now departed. He has promised to return, and in the meantime his Spirit remains with us.

But we cannot afford to wait for that leader to return. Instead you and I must pick up and carry the banner of truth just as that leader commanded. We must start a grass roots movement that will spread like a prairie fire.

And what is the truth?

The truth is that any power established through military might, force, coercion, greed, destruction, and dishonesty is fleeting and corrupting. The only power that endures, uplifts, and raises all boats is power that is willingly exchanged because it is based in love.

Do you want the United States to endure? Do you want the United States to lead the world? Then the United States and its people must be the servants of the world. We must lead the world in the paths of righteousness, not war. We must demonstrate care and concern for others, not lord it over them. We must be willing to teach, to share, and to learn from others. We must take on the job of not just elevating the welfare of ourselves or even the people
in the United States, but we must instead demonstrate the only true path to peace, harmony, and wealth: we must take on the job of loving all humanity with the type of love demonstrated by Jesus.

That love is self-sacrificing love. That is the same type of self-sacrificing love demonstrated by loving parents for their children. Until we elevate the welfare of others to be equal with or above the welfare of ourselves there will be no long term hope for us, nor for our loved ones, nor for our country, nor for our world.

But you say you don't care about this world because you have your eye fixed on heaven? So you think you're going to heaven? Jesus said there are many who think that, but few who will actually get there. Most people will be very unpleasantly surprised because they convinced themselves that they were following Jesus when they weren't. Jesus said that only those who do the will of the Father will get to heaven.

And what did Jesus say the will of the Father is? Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.

And who is your neighbor? When asked that question Jesus told the parable of the "Good Samaritan" - our neighbors include our enemies. We are required to demonstrate the same love for our enemies as the love we have for ourselves.

You say that won't work? On the contrary, it has been demonstrated time and again to be the only path that will work. It is the only path that leads to success and power in this world and the only path that leads to heaven.

Robert Frost put it this way: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

Michael C. Martin
Hellam Township