“ALL OF US CAN SERVE IN THE POLIS” -William J. Bennett
Think of it this way . . .
We’ve all noticed how our country’s governmental leaders have been performing the last many years: all the animosity and innuendos, suspicion and distrust, back-stabbing and divisiveness. How can a family, group, or nation survive such? They can’t. “A kingdom, city, or house divided against itself cannot stand” (-Jesus, Matt. 12:25).
The following information is from William J. Bennett’s The Book of Man. The word polis is from the ancient Greek idea of a city-state with a self-contained entity governed by a body of its citizens (think of the root-words: politics, polity, metropolis), where all are to be governed as equals. All community members are responsible for doing their part in the polis, thereby ensuring the rights and liberties of all. “It should be our privilege to come to the aid of our fellow man, a small price to pay for the freedoms we all enjoy…men of the polis should serve God, country, and family, for that is our calling.” -Wm. J. Bennett, The Book of Man, 2011, p 243
I thought of the practice sentence we used in typing class and tweaked it: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their fellows… to come to their collective civil senses.” We’ve lost our moral senses of what’s right and good. And the mother-root of the problem is this: Our would-be leaders have determinedly and methodically pushed God out, and, as a consequence – by default – allowed the devil to enter almost every facet of our lives. Now, instead of accentuating the positive and that which edifies, it seems most every task is approached with a bitter negativism designed to excuse and/or cover up hidden agendas.
So, there’s the problem and there’s the answer. Now, how do we go about ex- plaining and applying the answer so that we all get it? I was taught that the right thing for followers of righteousness to do is simply “Pray, Pay and Obey.” That’s simply profound when you think about it.
“Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:2, NLT)
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke
-John D.
