I am old enough to remember the terrible atrocities that occurred during World War II. I am almost 91 years old. There were 80 million men, women and children who died in that never forgotten war. Also, let us not forget, the devastation that occurred with mother nature. My brother, Lester, was on the battleship, the U. S. Iowa, fighting in the South Pacific. I read the newspapers, like a hawk, praying for my brother and for the war to end. Some men, felt the call to stop the madness of Adolph Hitler. As a young man, I felt the call, by God, to make a difference and felt the call to serve Him. I would read the Good Book and I read the book by Elton Trueblood, “The Alternative to Futility,” who was a great passionate Quaker leader. He truly believed that it was time that we all work together to provide a healthy civilization. I, also, truly believed that we must do that.

When World War II ended, I felt that all nations in our world must respect human rights of all people and to work together to respect international law. It was imperative that we must have an organization and have all nations come together and build peace and justice in our world. So, we were in need to have a United Nations. I helped to provide some leadership for that. As there are those who are called to fight and kill in our world, we need more and more people who feel called to work for peace and justice in our world. We must listen to people who have empathy towards violence in our world, like Pope Francis, who spoke to our U. S. Congress a couple of years ago, and said, “It laments me, the blood money that we make off of war products.”

When young men and women are called to die for our country and military contractors in America are making millions of dollars off of our wars and in turn lobby our Congress and our Senate to support them, where is our social justice and morality that is taking place in our country and with our politicians and with all of us? We must all feel called by God to change this and work together, to bring about a healthy civilization and a true feeling of democracy.

It is time we must have a global view of values for all people. Jesus said on one occasion, “Those who love God, they are my brother, my sister and my mother.” (Matthew 12:50)

Most religions in our world have a love towards God. We have much in common with one another. We must come to that place in our civilization, that we see more good than bad in most people living in our world. Can we bring another alternative to our futility and bring about a healthy civilization in our world? That is our challenge today!