These are some of the elements that the members of LECDEN shared with me. What
matters is what they want, how they envision their community. And I’m sure that
more will be added as all of us find out about other model communities and, more
specifically, what will work most effectively in their neighborhood, according
to their needs and talents. The executive board is meeting with the residents to
make those determinations and clarifications.
I know this dream CAN become a reality. Even now, I see similar dreams being
realized in our own country and throughout the world as people begin to
understand our human shared destiny. Everyday we see more evidence that we are
all in this life together in an interconnected present and future.
Why should we, in the industrialized nations, be concerned? Why try to affect a
better life for people a half planet away? While not negating our responsibility
to do whatever is needed for the people in our own country and neighborhood, an
investment in the rest of the world decreases the likelihood of suffering,
unrest and social inequity everywhere. An investment in education for everyone
moves our world forward toward greater peace and justice, diminishing the
likelihood of fanaticism, religious radicals and ideologs. An investment in orphaned
children saves them from being abducted and forced into slavery, militias, or
the sex trade. It also saves them from growing into incompetent, scarred adults
who could propagate dysfunctional behaviors for generations to come...
In the forward to the book, Daily Word for Women, “Silent Unity” a world-wide
prayer ministry, explains its spiritual grounding ; ”all people are sacred, God
is present in all situations and everyone is worthy of love, peace, health and
prosperity.” Add to this a more secular idea: that approximately 12% of any
given population is extremely bright, with 2 % in the genius category. It seems
so tragic, such a needless waste of the greatest resource the world has, its
precious people. Each of us should be shocked by the number of brilliant people
lost to our civilization through poverty, natural disaster, disease, war and bad
government.