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Good morning, Brother John,

I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. However, I believe your call for institutional change may have passed. Like Saul, our nation has failed to be the people we have been called to be. We don’t listen to, or for, the Word of God. Instead of becoming peacemakers after the 2nd world war, we became the arms dealers for the rest of the world. Eisenhower warned us, but we would not listen. Our interactions with the rest of the world are primarily power grabs that overwhelm the ability of other nations to deflect. The people we have chosen to lead don’t. Our nation is run by people who were not elected but put in place by those who were. And while the seats in the White House and Congress may change from election to election, those who control the purse strings and make decisions decade after decade do not. We are no longer a nation that exists for the people, nor is it a nation directed by the will of the people.

Like Saul, God is disappointed in us. And God is allowing us to come apart at the seams. I regret that the world and our nation have regressed. The dreams of the late 19th century for a golden age have been squashed and our technological skills will ultimately block our abilities to truly engage with our neighbors, much less with God. We have chosen our own paths, and they will eventually lead us into the dessert not back into the garden. I wish things could better for our grandkids, but I don’t see it happening.

But all is not lost (yet). We cannot make macro changes to our nation or our world. But we can make micro changes wherever we find God leading us. We can still find ways to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can make differences one person at a time, but we will not stop the flood of people trying desperately to find a place to call home. While we cannot change big issues, we can make a difference one person at a time.

We can be witnesses. We can listen to God and let ourselves be guided by the Spirit. When the time fully comes, we can act. Though we cannot plan for it, when the time is right, we will know it. We can offer pardon, sow love, walk with those in darkness until they find the light, and console the disheartened until they realize that they are children of God also. Our nation’s biggest problem is that we do not know ourselves. We have forgotten what it means to be stewards of God’s creation. We have forgotten that we do not control the past, present, or future. We have forgotten how to humble ourselves. Even though we have been created in the image of God, we are not God.

One candle lit in the dark can provide direction for many. In the end, only God knows what will happen tomorrow. Let us live and rejoice in what He has given us in this day.

hesed ve shalom,