Between the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence ...and before George Washington began his first term as President, this land that we live in was being settled by people from other nations who realized they had to mend their differences by 'melting together'. In order to survive as a nation, the people had to survive as a people ...and they resolved, with their strong constitution, to survive not only as a people, but as a nation. They painstakingly hashed out their differences to agree upon a document that they felt would survive also ...The Constitution of the United States.

This Land of Opportunity would not eliminate the existence of the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'.  So, what did it bring?

It reminds me of the story, "Stone Soup".

As people traveled to this country, they settled down and often gave it their best.  Still, some had plenty and others had a relatively empty pot.  Some people are reluctant to share.  And in response to the lack of an open or extended hand and heart, some people get rather angry ...and even may begin to boil.  What I believe is a better option is what happened in the story, "Stone Soup".  Their pot was filled with water, and when the water began to boil ...well, an invitation of sorts is given.  We commonly call it 'pot luck'.  Everyone could add something to the pot, and the end result is that they can enjoy it together.

Everyone has something to offer ...they just have to be willing to.

Yes, we have to be willing to get along. But, what happens if some people don't want to? Or some people may want to get along, yet not for anyone's interests other than their own. They see it more as the 'Land of Opportunists'.

We I got out of college, I got a job working for the State of Michigan.  There was much diversity within the work place, and I was fine with that.  I guess their experiences and observations showed them that everyone was not fine with that.  And their response was that we should all participate in an in-service training for 'Workplace Diversity'.

We were broken down into groups ...and it didn't seem that their was much diversity, in my group anyway. But, here is the scenario:

A young girl, in her early twenties, is engaged to get married to a young man who is a missionary, stationed in Indonesia.  Her mom is so happy for her daughter, she decides to treat her to a vacation, to see her fiance.

They decide to surprise him, and when they get there, he was about to go on a boat ride with his best friend ...also in the mission field.  They were going to explore some new islands to see if they were inhabited, and possibly come up with a plan to share the Gospel with them.  

He was so happy to see his fiance, he was going to postpone the trip, but Mom speaks up, "I see you already got a captain all set to take you, I don't think he'd mind if two more went along."

 But, a sudden storm comes up.  His friend is hit by a big wave and tossed overboard, so he gets the lifeboat and tries to rescue him.  The mom and daughter can barely see them as their larger boat continues to toss and turn.  They quickly lose sight of the lifeboat, not knowing whether the rescue was successful ...or whether they were able to survive. 

 The captain tries to keep his own boat seaworthy, but crashes against some rocks.  After what seems like forever, the light of day comes, and the storm calms. They are able to see they are just a few yards from an island shoreline.  The three of them are able to wade to the shore.  Mom helps daughter search for her fiance and his best friend, while the captain relaxes on the beach sipping out of a coconut.

After exploring the entire island, they are certain nobody else is there.  Mom is the first to see smoke coming from another island near the horizon.  Her daughter runs back to where they had last seen the captain, hopeful that the smoke means that her fiance and his friend had safely made it to that island.  She begs the captain to try to fix the boat, so she can see if her fiance is alive.

The captain thinks about it, then says, "I think I can fix the boat, but only if you agree to sleep with me."

She runs to her mom, crying, "What do I do, Mom?  I want to get to my fiance, but I'd have to go along with the captain's request."

Mom says, "My sweet daughter, you'll have to follow your heart.  I can't tell you what to do."

The girl desperately can't go on thinking that her fiance could have perished, so she agrees to the captain's terms.  The captain keeps to his part of the bargain, fixes the boat, and they travel to the other island.

When they get to the other island, her fiance and his best friend are there ...and she runs to her fiance and jumps into his arms.  She tells him, "I love you so much ...I couldn't bear being away from you, thinking you may not have survived!"  She then tells him the dilemma the captain had left her with ...and tells him she had slept with the captain.

Her fiance is stunned, and turns away ...walking down the beach away from her, saying, "I never want to see you again.  I don't care if we all die on this island."

Her fiance's best friend sees how distraught she is, and tells her, "He doesn't mean what he said ...it may take him awhile, but he will comes around.  Meanwhile, I'll help take care of you ...and make sure we all survive."

Our assignment was to decide which character was our favorite, and who was our least favorite character ...and to explain why.  But, we had to decide as a group, vote on it, and the group leader for each group was to be the spokesperson ...presenting what the majority decided upon.  And it so happened that the group I was in, unanimously voted me as group leader.

The others in my group were in total agreement, but I was in total disagreement with them.  Their least favorite character was the best friend ...because they said he was trying to take the girl away.  I said that they could only assume that ...and that the story did not reveal that intent.  But, they were certain of it.  I felt I was in a group of very insecure people. (By the way, my group was all guys.)

They also didn't like the Mom ...because the daughter had gone to her for advice, and she virtually gave none.  The real shocker for me though, was that their favorite character was the captain ...because he knew what he wanted, and found a way to get it.

I suddenly began to feel a bit angry ...and had quickly lowered my opinion of the people in my group.  When it was time for the presentation, I tried to begin by saying,"What our group came up with, I in no way agree with ..."

The person running the seminar interrupted me and told me that it didn't matter what I thought, it was what the group had decided.

I thought the whole 'Diversity Training' was a worthless experience ...and that whoever came up with that stuff was a sick person too.  And now, though this was probably over 30 years ago, this comes to mind again ...because I have been hearing that our government is indoctrinating the youth with this very concept, that it is not so important how we think, but what interests the whole and benefits the majority view.

(Unless, of course, that is reversed by convenience with any argument where we feel the individual is more important than the group.  If there are only two persons ...then does one hold all the importance, and the other none.  Consider this with the abortion debate.)

This year I read the book, "America the Beautiful", by a favorite author and person ...Benjamin Carson.

He grew up as one of the 'have-nots' ...as a young child in Detroit, Michigan.  But now, he has the initials, M.D., after his name.  Every chapter is filled with the substance of a person who matured to his fullest potential to become the person he is today.  I could go on to share so many points that he has shared in his book, but I want to at least share one section that I feel applies to the particular point I'm trying to make.

Ben Carson's seventh Chapter is entitled, "What is a Moral Nation?"  This is a quote from his book, " ...one can easily see how a government that is in love with the people's money could engage in the evil act of 'bleeding the people.'  A truly virtuous government would act fiscally responsible, constantly remind itself of its duties, and collect just enough money through taxes to take care of those duties.  It would never overspend its budget unless there was an emergency, in which case it would make every effort to pay back the debt as soon as possible."

And just before that, he talked about I Timothy 6:10.

Ben made it clear that without a moral basis for the way we conduct ourselves, our values will continue to deteriorate.

Yes, government has much to do with how business is conducted ...and sadly, most of us feel they do a poor job. They are entitled to mistakes, and of course, at times fail like the rest of us. But, we often don't mind if we can trust them to try to do their best. The problem is, most of the time we don't feel they are honest with us, the very people they are supposed to represent.

I don't know how government can set a trend.  It's not logical to me to think that we would be influenced most by those we largely don't trust ...so I wonder how they could set a standard for the rest of us.

Well, there is one disturbing fact ...that most everyone seems to want to get away with something, and if they see someone else getting away with it, they want to also be among the privileged.  In a delinquent sort of way, it makes people feel validated, worthy, or of equal status ...like members of some sort of elite club.

Trust what I'm saying ..."We don't need to try so hard.  We already belong ...and we get away with way more than maybe we should."  But, that should not be the focus.  The focus should be on someone other than ourselves.  We should look to the One who waits for us to change our focus, and turn to Him.  

Yes, Jesus covers our admission fee.  He covers our sin, and that is no small thing.  Wouldn't we think we'd want to stop attempting to get away with things, or comparing ourselves with those who still attempt to do so?

I'm not going to mention specifically where ...but I have worked in places where we were trained the way to do things, then afterwards I was told, "We don't do things that way around here."

I believe that the Bible clearly shows us how to live.  And it is my belief that we should commit to try to live the best way we can according to those standards.

There are those who don't believe in the Bible, or have chose to believe in whatever parts and to what degree they personally choose to.  It seems that there is so much about personal choice.

But I believe that the only ground that these people have to stand on, is that which was provided for all of us on the third day of Creation.

I think all of us have the same chance to see that truth ...as the Light was on the first day.