The massive columns began to sway and the ceiling that they supported began to show visible signs of cracking. Dust filled the air, and the deafening roar of an earthquake overwhelmed the senses.

At least, that's how an overactive teenage imagination envisioned it. It seemed reasonable to assume that if the prayers of the humble move heaven, then the prayers of the most humble man that I have ever met should shake the foundations of heaven.

He was a man many people remember walking the roads in South Hall always wearing a World War I uniform. Those of us who knew him had heard his explanation of why he did that. His modest way of life is in stark contrast to the pride, entitlement and favor handed out by the discount chapels of the world. The cultivation of personal integrity just takes too long.

The whole country seems to be obsessed with taking shortcuts. Economic equality seems to be the current mantra, but they don't want equal opportunity. They want guaranteed equal results.

Most people do realize that the gap between rich and poor seems to be widening. There seems to be something implicitly unfair when the richest 400 families in the country have as much money as the bottom 50 percent. The real injustice occurs when power, money and influence are used to create a climate of exclusion. It creates a reality where money and power become monopolized by a few. Maybe, it is time to break money's influence on the political realm.

That sounds like a huge job. It would probably mean a rewrite of many current laws and the establishment of some sort of public support for political campaigns. It is a huge pill to take, but do we really believe that large donations are made to political campaigns for the benefit of you and me? We know these contributors expect to be paid back somehow or they will simply find somewhere else to invest their money. Is it fair to say that our next president has already incurred debts that have to be paid?

The president needs to be concerned with putting America back to work one step at a time. Our president needs to be above the entitlement and favor that permeates the Washington culture. It begins when we say, "No thanks, Washington is not for sale."

Maybe we'll find a true public servant in the White House one day. I once knew a man with an attitude like that, and I think he shook up his world making it a better place.

Mickey F. Maddox
Gainesville