Strong leadership is needed for unity

America has a problem.

A virus has exposed our nation's Achilles' Heel, but no single entity seems to be able to clearly identify what the source of the problem really is. The newspapers and television are full of examples of the problem. And to make matters worse, you can gauge the seriousness of the problem by the ineptness of our nation's legislative bodies. They don't seem to have a clue about the answer either.

If we were a ship at sea and were floundering as the United States currently is, we might expect to call it mutiny of sorts. That generally is associated with a question of "who is in charge?" or "where is the ship's real captain?" We don't know from day to day who is at the helm or if we are adrift There are plenty of people who know something is wrong but no one has a consistent recommendation on where we are headed.

Having "grown up" during World War II, and seeing America go from a successful but not spectacular society to the most powerful nation in the world, militarily and economically, I am very proud to be a part of the United States. Now as I grow old (remember past 80) and can see signs of a crack in our national moral and leadership structure, I'm worried.

Was I the only one that missed the President's call for a day of prayer for our nation? And when the governor asked for a day of prayer, I missed the headlines that made it our states' priority. Apparently someone was better informed than I because it was later reported on the internet.

How can we, as a nation, really be drawn together if the only way we are learning about each other is on Facebook? We might learn something about each others' social lives but we not getting the information that might draw us together. Our (usually) reliable news sources -- TV, newspapers, etc. are changing to meet new social expectations.

Our president is now trying to open up the churches by "presidential decree" or some well televised press conference. Does he really attend church or was this an attempt to satisfy some of the supporters? That was on television but if he was on television trying to bring our nation together with prayer in this time of crisis, I certainly missed it. Surely if he saw this as a priority he would have made a bigger issue of the benefit at a time when we need as much "togetherness" as possible.

Who does America look to who presents a strong positive, reassuring image of someone who brings a caring and calming leadership to our troubled nation? Where do we turn when we see a nation divided by wealth, color, race, political affiliation opportunity and anything else you want to consider? President Trump wants to use the "war theme" but he doesn't seem to understand it is more than an application of tariffs on foreign countries.

Our biggest problems are internal.

Do you think Joe Biden can solve our problems and draw us into one nation again? Or should we consider the socialistic views of Bernie Sanders or Senator Elizabeth Warren as the role-model we need? Can we have political divisions along with "the virus" and still have normal political conventions ? We have just come face-to-face with the social and economic impact of COVID-19 and there is no end in sight no matter how we reopen our economy.

Whether we like it or not, the news media with all its outlets is going to be the wild-card in the months between now and the November election.

Anyone who is my age or older has already seen the same problems that I have experienced growing up in World War II and now into 2020. We have had different opportunities, made different choices, and probably see all the events from a different view point. But there are many changes in the manner of living, lifestyle, job opportunities, etc. that we share in common. And, I wonder how many people like me wonder how we got so far astray.

One thing I have learned, however, is that leadership which binds people together is much better than leadership that divides. Many people have very different views of the Bible and do everything they can to minimize the impact of Scripture in our lives today. What I have found, however, is we can learn a lot from the teachings of scripture and of Jesus Christ. And, there are many Old Testament examples that can help us look at where mankind has gone when self-centeredness became the life-style of society.

We still pray for a unified nation at our house. We pray for a leader we can believe in and support. And, yes we follow the advice of Joshua as he said in the book of the Bible attributed to him (Chapter 24, verse 15) "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

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Editor's note: Leo Lynch, an award-winning columnist, is a native of Benton County and has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace.

Editorial on 06/03/2020