From the Book
This is a story that has been told throughout time, by many different peoples. We remember their stories, by how these civilizations lived and perished, the choices they made, and the values they endeared.
In this story, there is one great difference. This story takes place in our time and considers many of the choices that have been laid at our feet. For in our time, like many who have come before us, our choices have the potential to shape the destiny of our world. We are once again caught in a great divide, where many pressures have fostered a reconsideration of how we can, or should, proceed. We must consider where these pressures have come from, what makes them important, and the consequences of our actions.
To this end, what we see in the mirror should cause us to take stock in ourselves. Lest we blame the mirror, which is the ultimate expression of vanity. While this is a story of what may be, or could be, we should not dismiss the very real consequences of our passions. Considering what we have gained as opposed to what we may surrender. For as is true with each individual, so it is true of a great society, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
Finally, I will leave you with this warning. Beware of those who would dismiss this tale and proclaim its impossibilities. Beware of those who tell you these things cannot happen here or today. Remember that while the participants and the particulars may change, this tale has already happened, it has happened here, and it could happen again tomorrow.
This is a fictional story, which takes place in our world and in our times. The use of certain institutions, historical references, or landmarks provides context for the reader. Nevertheless, the circumstances and application of these contextual references is fictitious. The story is not intended to reflect on any person, institution, or group. Any such correlation is unintended and not relevant to the story. Rather, within the story, the fictitious characters and events should force us to take a pause and search our own souls.
The story is set in an emerging global conflict, which reaches, in part, to our shores. The roots of this conflict are as old as time itself. On the surface, we see a world conflicted over how we should be governed. A debate that is rooted in how to best deal with the many challenges that face our world. When in reality, greed, power, and vanity fuel betrayal and blind ambition. Division and fear are the tools of those who are driven by the hollow rewards of such ambition. For this is not the ambition of goals, growth, and self-improvement. Rather, it is the ambition of the true original sin, perpetuated by Satan when he attempted to overthrow the kingdom of heaven. The pursuit of power, often through anarchy, is an ideal that Satan has whispered in the ear of people since the dawn of time. Bringing about our fall and thereby setting all of humanity upon our perilous journey.
Much to this point, we must consider the many attributes of citizenship in a free and open society. Citizenship within a constitutional republic was always intended to be demonstrative in nature. Each of us a titleholder to our society and government. Herein, we must be passionate, expressive, and responsible toward our stake in society. Within the construct of democracy within a republic lies an inherent sense of duty to our rights and the institutions to which these rights are entrusted. In keeping, there is an inherent sense of responsibility toward the liberties of one another. When the ideals of advanced and active citizenship shed these responsibilities, we open the door to the authoritarian and the tyrant.
When the boundaries of a free society are shed in the name of advanced citizenship, democracy is replaced with anarchy. When active citizenship becomes singular in its view and absolute in its virtue, liberty becomes an illusion. In this, we find the great lie of the authoritarian, which is that only government can change the hearts of its people. When in truth, the government has almost always served to harden our hearts. Only through faith as part of the demonstrative exercise of citizenship, within a free society, can we open our own hearts. Through faith, we find the ability to set boundaries upon our passions. Thereby opening our hearts and minds to the consequences of our actions or inaction.
Demonstrative citizenship is embodied in the patriot. Symbolized through each of our choices and actions, toward both government and each other. What good are the ideals and virtues of a great society if they are not openly practiced throughout our life’s work? The demonstration of both our faith and liberties is at the heart of citizenship within a free society. Here we find the application of a robust, or expanded, sense of free will, which is a cornerstone to our faith. Empowering each of us to not only enter into a relationship with the Almighty but to practice that faith openly. Demonstrative citizenship is not the path of the ideolog or the theorist. Rather, it is how we live our lives through the choices we make within a free society.
The principal character, often inspired by those around him, is forced to consider how he came to this place in time; in the fight against those who have attacked their homes and institutions. They must consider what they are really fighting for, as opposed to what and whom they are really fighting against. How did the great tenets of a free society, which united all free people, become lost and divided in a world which appeared to have lost its way? In this we find not only the journey of citizenship but the journey of faith. A journey that is fraught with harsh realities and many deceptions. Only through this journey may we rediscover who we are and how we are bound together as one people.
Through the tribulations that have beseeched our world, many have found themselves abandoned by the practitioners of their faith and the leaders of their government, stripped of the illusions of their former lives, and forced to consider the contrast of who they were and what they now must do. These individuals, over time, find true faith and freedom as they learn to care for each other. In their struggle, they inevitably return to the fundamentals of our founders. Often facing the ideological misuse of power, many find themselves at odds with those they once supported. Through these tribulations, each of us must consider the basis of who we are and what each of us stands for.
It is for this reason we must consider our choices through our own realm in time. Far too often, the tenets of our faith and the values of our society are nurtured in an illusion. An idyllic view of life in which we learn to conform in the name of happiness and security. Here, in this illusion, the truth can be far more threatening to our lives than the deception on which our illusions are built. The journey of faith and citizenship was always meant to be walked boldly. For when we deny the truth, which is in both our hearts and our view, we allow ourselves to be deceived into submission, placing a price or a movable threshold upon our convictions.
This was not the path of our founding fathers nor that of the prophets and apostles of any faith. When we boldly embrace the journey of faith and demonstrative citizenship, the truth is often borne out before us. When through prayer, reflection, and consensus, we find a common purpose with those around us. We proceed with that purpose and are reborn in our views. But beware, for here the blindly ambitious will try to deceive you with half-truths and false promises, thereby enabling you to make false choices in the name of security, equity, and entitlement, enabling society to move from its founding ideals to a new ideology.
In this story, as is often the case in life, many of life’s illusions are shattered by unconscionable circumstances. Many struggled to hold on to the illusion in which they live. Still, many others cast off the false choices being laid before them. To this end, those in our story sought strength and guidance in their faith. And in doing so, they found the truth that lied within them. This is the story of our unlikely and intrepid characters
Be prepared for a rapidly changing world that forces many to undertake the fight of their lives. You will see a return to faith and citizenship that must be demonstrated on virtually every level. The principal character, David Werner, becomes a pivotal resistance leader named Bear. Forced to relive the events of the war before a Senate hearing, we learn of how what were once unthinkable events led up to the conflict, how the resistance was born, how it evolved, and the slow and deliberate rise of its elusive leader known as Two Dragons.
In this story, the main character, along with many others in the world, watches as the country and world they once knew devolve on virtually every level. Like so many, they attempt to navigate the rapidly changing political environment, holding on to the illusion that everything will eventually work itself out. Despite their best efforts, the world erupts into a global conflict that reaches America’s shores.
In the course of this war, the characters find that the enemy within their nation may be even more dangerous than their external foes. Through the uncontainable events of his new life, Bear must reconcile how the tenets of a great society became so broken. He and all those who struggle with him must learn to care for each other as they discover the truth that lies within each of them. With the illusions of their former lives stripped away, people are forced to make a choice, thereby considering how each of them will express their choices through their actions. From these individual choices, we see the rise of the great American militia and a return to our founder’s ideals. Once again, a people must learn to boldly walk the journey of faith and demonstrative citizenship.
This is not the tale of lost hope or global collapse. Instead, it is a story of the return to faith, hope, and true liberty. Nonetheless, the path they must travel is fraught with danger and conflict. Early on in the story, the reader will assume what this story is about, only to find themselves pulled in a new direction. Here our characters begin to find a new and greater purpose, and the reader begins to evolve with our intrepid group of unlikely worriers. Throughout their struggle, you will walk with them, cry with them, laugh with them, and ultimately, you may ask, “Who am I?”
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