A Plea For Sanity

An Open Letter

11.11.01

My name is Nathaniel Lee Flowers, and though I know that may mean nothing to you, I pray you would lend me your ears. I need to tell you now that I don't pretend to have all the answers. I can't solve all your problems, and it is that very understanding that I ask you now to adopt for yourself. You can solve all your problems, no more than I. I am calling you all now to sanity, to realize that you are not gods. You cannot solve the problems of this world any more than you can save yourselves. You are not gods. I am calling you all to accept what you already know, that you are inadequate. Admit to yourself what you would not dare admit to another soul: you are weak, you are vulnerable, and you need help. Please, now, understand that the rest of the world is no different. We cannot solve the problems of the world with weapons of war, politricks, nor, dare I say, diplomacy. At the end of this war, I tell you, there will still be monsters and evil men among us. There will still be hate and terror in the world. You cannot fight hate with hate. You cannot fight fire with fire. The only thing you will win that way is a wasteland. We must fight hate with love. We must fight terror with courage. Darkness is driven out with light. Your weapons of war are as inadequate as yourselves. Every generation, a new threat emerges, and you fashion your own weapons against it. You become so proud of yourselves. How clever, how inventive, and how bigheaded you are! You cannot solve the problems of six billion people. None of you, no not one of you is clever or wise, ingenious or inventive enough to fashion a solution to all the problems of six billion people. Do not deceive yourselves. Do not deny it. You know it is true. You are tired. You are weary. You alone are inadequate. Dear friends, brothers and sisters, let me tell you, God did not give us life just to take it. God did not give us free will just to use it. Your God has given you free will hoping you would give it back to Him of your own accord. He wants you to recognize that you would only fail at it, that you are inadequate when given this free will. He knows you would only misuse it. He wants you to put your faith and trust in Him. Give your will, give your decisions, and give your problems to the only One who has power enough to solve them. My dear friends, trust Him. We are inadequate. We will only fail. I plead with you now to trust Him. You have spent your lives, thinking you were gods, that you were big enough to solve your own problems, but you are tired. Recognize, my friends, that you cannot do this alone. Trust in the God of Heaven, who is big enough to solve all our problems. He did it once before, on that great and terrible, that fateful day, he freed us of all human iniquity, so give it up now. Forfeit the pain, the problems, and the troubles that you are harboring. Trust in Him and in your brothers and sisters in humanity. You have built yourselves up as fortresses that no one may harm you, but neither can anyone touch you. You cannot be touched or loved by anyone. The walls you erected for your own protection put you now in peril, put all of us in peril. I call on you, now, brothers and sisters, open your hearts to each other. Be vulnerable. Share your love and intimacy openly. Be not afraid. Be not homophobic. Don't let a callous and contemptible world deny you what you desire most. I tell you, they, the homophobes and the callous, the seemingly strong, are just as vulnerable as you. They too need and desire to share their love unabashedly and intimately. They are weak and afraid, too. They need. Never be afraid to love. Never be afraid to be openly intimate with those you love. Love and intimacy are not the same as sex. Sex is not love, only a shallow expression of it. Sex is more, but little more, than a bodily function. Do not be mistaken. When I speak of love and intimacy, I speak of a love that is greater than sex and of an intimacy that is deeper than intercourse. Do not become obsessed as the world with this cheap and empty search for a love and intimacy you will never find in the Lifestyle, which is more like a deathstyle. We, all of us, young and old, strong and weak, ugly and pretty, man and woman, man and man, and woman and woman, should share this love and intimacy I speak of. It is a prerequisite to happiness. You will never truly know joy without it. If you find it, ecstasy will be redefined for you, as I hope love and intimacy have been redefined for you. You are all good. Do not be mistaken. I know there are monsters among you. It was never my intention to doubt that evil men lived and breathed and walked about doing evil things, but I am now calling all of you good, so be good. You are all precious children of a good and perfect God. You are all good, so be good. I do believe in positive reinforcement. I know that for many of you, you have never been told by anyone that you are good. Many of you have been told you were bad. Many of you, not in so many words, have been told you were worthless. I tell you the truth: you are good and you are worth being loved, so be good and love. Love your neighbors as yourselves. Love your enemies. Do not forget the ancient wisdom; it will give you peace. Love one another, and love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Love Him enough to trust Him with the problems that you cannot solve on your own. We will get through this. We can survive, but I need you to trust, to trust in each other and in the Lord your God, who loves you more than you could ever imagine. You can't imagine the love He has for you. You can't imagine the love I have for you, so trust us.

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