We the People

In the two months I have been here, I have been fortunate enough to run across a few people who I think could actually turn out to be friends. I wont bore you to death with my history of friendships, but I will make this point. Through the cycles of life, I have come to distinguish between acquaintances, friends of proximity, and actual friends. Just by the descriptions, I am sure you can understand what I am talking about. It is not that any type of those is any better or worse, just different and for different purposes. Anywho, I have started to notice a similarity among those who have grown into friends. They all, to some capacity, would like to make a difference in this world.

I believe that somewhere within all of us is the desire to make some change in our paradigm, but these people actually seem to be taking steps towards making that difference. Some of them are going into politics, trying to make the change within. Some people are going into business, trying to take the wheel of the great power that is capitalism to do some good. Others are determined to venture into engineering, to help others qualities of life. Then there are the missionaries, who really don't know how to make a difference, but know that being with those who are suffering is better than sitting on their thumbs here. Some of them will become teachers, trying to educate a generation into actions. Some will go into the 9-5 of corporate America, and impact their families and co-workers, inspiring them to be better people, and admits that change, the world will have a renewed hope of being a better place. Then, I am sure, there are some who will end up as pastors of some sort, trying to preach or sing to others a good direction for their life.

Really, I have found myself surrounded by quite a diverse group of individuals, but one things seems to remain constant. These are people who want to make the world a better place.

I was driving down the road the other day and decided that such a grouping of individuals should be able to identify that desire with some greater movement. Sure, the pastors will have their youth groups, the engineers will have their clubs, and the teachers will have their conventions, but how about a bigger picture. That is why I am proposing a new group. Granted, it will probably never develop into an actual group. But the idea is there for something big.

If I were to start a group, it would be called: “We the People”
Affectionately named after the opening lines of our very own Constitution. If you want to read it, you can find a link for it here: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html Interestingly enough, the phrase “We the People” is the only part of it written in exceptionally large font (except titles like “article 1”). Take a look if you have time.

I have spoken on this topic before, but our Declaration of independence really is a powerful document. Think about it. You have a group of individuals who gather together and decided that their government was not operating the way it should, and that it was causing too much harm to remain subordinate to. And so, they wrote this:
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(Pardon the heresy as I present my cliff-noted version of the Declaration of Independence)

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them... they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...

(They then contend reasons for abolishing their current system of government)

We, therefore, ... appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States..... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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Having written such a declaration, they then later wrote what we now know as the “Constitution of the United States”. Let me clarify my thoughts here.... You have a group of individuals who have decided that they no longer believed in the ways the government was operating, and so they banned together to form their own group “We the People”, to establish how they felt a government should be run.

Now, please don't confuse what I am saying. I am NOT contending that the U.S. Government should be overthrown or even rebelled away from. But I do believe that there are changes that need to be made, both internally and through external coercion.

The good news is that our government was created around the idea that the POWER IS IN THE PEOPLE. And that is who we are. We ARE “the People”. And when it comes to change, we are the ones who are going to have to do it. Otherwise, as we can see in the world around us, nobody will.

That is why I would call my group of friends- “We the People”... and just as every good group has a motto, I would give our group the motto of “WE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD!” Too many times have I gotten the reality speech or stern looks of disapproval when I have talked about actually making an impact. I am tired of it. I do believe such a small group of men and women can start a movement. I do believe in the ripple effect of life. I do believe that through God all things are possible. I do believe that we can make a difference, and I will not just stand, but will move in action towards that difference until the change has been made.

There are two powerful institutions within my grasps that have immense capacity to change this world. There is the government of the United States, and then there is the great Roman Catholic Church. Both with simply the inherent flaw of being opposite sides of the same world changing coin. Pardon the generalizations, but on one side of the coin there is an institution, derived by men and supported by God, to establish freedom and equality- but those two things have served as its undoing as the United States now seems plagued by the effects of “true freedom” and “absolute equality”, when the original intention was freedom FROM oppression, not freedom TO oppress. And on the other side of the coin, you have a brilliant institution derived by God and supported by man, designed to give structure and stability to a feeble Christian faith that at one time, and still is, fighting the world. Sadly though, its structure has trumped its spirit, and what was once a movement of the heart, guided by principles to bring one into a relationship with Christ, has turned into a mechanized structure of rules and regulations creating a new order of Pharisees (in one sense) – and only because it knew no better way to deal with such an influx of new believers.

Here in America, we have the capacity for change, and that capacity is US. Not the U.S., but US- as in you and me. “We the People” are the ones who are going to have to make the change that we want to see in this world. Sure, this sounds crazy, but so does a man from Nazareth saying you could throw mountains into the ocean with but a mustard seed of faith. With the Holy Spirit to guide us, with the anointing of Christ on our lives, and in pursuit of Gods pleasure, what could stop us. Sure, this is not going to be some beautifully eloquent march up the steps of the Capitol asking for immediate change. I know it will take a long time to do, but patience never seemed to be a problem for God, and therefore should not be a problem for me. “We will change the world”... In whatever way we can. Because “We the People” believe that we can, and that this world was not the one God intended for us live in. We believe that we were sent a guide, the Holy Spirit, to direct our passions- and right now, we feel those passions pushing us to make a difference in this world. And so that is what we will do. However we can.

And in closing, I will leave you with my favorite quote from Rocky. Have a good day.....

"What's crazy about standing toe to toe [with life] and saying, I am."
-Rockey