A Story to Light the World

Published at I'm with Dennis

Imagine for a moment that you are the writer of a story, a story designed to inspire the hearts and minds of the world. It is to be an epic story with all the necessary ingredients: humble beginnings, a fall from grace, hopelessness, unsuspected twists, and triumph over impossible odds. The point of this story is to show that we are bigger than we think we are. We are not bound by class or appearance or money. We are limited only by our willingness to become an instrument for something larger. A mission. A calling. A destiny.

Let's say this story is addressed to a nation that has become a prisoner of its own successes and is beginning to exhibit all the signs of aging empire: corruption, belligerence, rule by an elite, cronyism, manipulation of the public trust, and self-indulgence. This country has forgotten its principles, its ideals, its very reason for existence. It's lost touch with its mission. Instead of an oasis of idealism, its government and leadership have become a secretive citadel of greed. Its citizens no longer carry the torch of truth. They carry the credit card of the consumer.

This is America today.

I will tell you how I would write the story of this nation's transformation. I would start with an unlikely protagonist, one who possessed none of the privileges of the powerful. No pedigree. No prestigious education. No glamorous looks. I would handicap him completely, removing all of the things that power and money can buy and even the gifts that genetics can bestow. I would make him short and not particularly photogenic, provide the poorest of upbringings, and make him a hospital orderly to pay his way through college.

What I would bestow on him, though, is a passionate belief in the noble dream of America, an indomitable will, deep compassion, a visionary mind, and a desire to serve. I would light a fire in his heart.

In his youth, I would arrange for extraordinary success as that fire begins to burn brightly enough for others to see. One by one, door by door, as he runs for successively higher offices, people begin to see hope in his eyes, truth in his words, and love in his heart. They rally around him, and - against all conventional reason - place him in office as the youngest big-city mayor in America's history, running on a platform of challenging corrupted power. 31 years old, mayor of Cleveland. Our protagonist has arrived in prime time.

Next our story requires a fall. Our young hero goes toe-to-toe with the corrupted Powers with all of his passionate, fiery idealism. After delivering the municipal power grid back to the people, as he had promised, he is crucified by the Powers, whose profits were thwarted. They collude in back room deals to pull the plug on the city's past debts, driving the city into default. They smear his name and reputation. He refuses to back down and is destroyed for it.

His political career is apparently ruined.

Our protagonist is set adrift, wondering where to serve. Where has the thread of his destiny gone? He teaches. He explores. He learns. He hits hard times. Slowly, he begins to deepen his understanding, recover his sense of mission and destiny, and strengthen his relationship with God. During this long, fallow period, he slowly transforms from a boy into a man.

Our protagonist faces agonizing moments, asking God, "Why? Why was this my fate?" Over time, he begins to hear the answer through his own heart. "The greatest service demands being unattached to personal reward. You may pay high prices for doing the most important work. Many of my brightest lights lose everything. Are you willing?"

The answer comes from our protagonist. Yes, he is willing. The Boy Wonder has become a Warrior.

Now we must write his redemption. After years of contempt and dismissal, the leadership of Ohio turns. The once-spurned Boy Wonder is recognized as a champion of the people. A roar of thanks goes up for rescuing municipal power, for saving tens of millions of dollars, for standing on principle against entrenched and corrupt power. He has become a hero again.

In a conservative district, he runs on a progressive platform against an entrenched Republican incumbent. Again, the flame in his heart and the magic in his words wins voters' confidence. He triumphs over long odds to become first a state Senator and then a Congressman. He has arrived in the innermost halls of power in this once noble nation.

Our protagonist begins to blaze, lighting up the house with progressive legislation, taking bold and outspoken stands while others cower. In the shadow of a terrorist attack and fear-induced militarism, he rallies against a misguided war. He galvanizes others behind him. He serves notice that the entrenched Powers cannot rule this nation with their heavy hand indefinitely.

The stage is set. David must now meet Goliath. He enters the race for president.

For our story to have its greatest redemptive power, it is vital that our protagonist is first shunned by the media wing of the Powers as well as the leadership of his own party. They are dismissive. "Not a chance" is the uniform opinion of the comfortable opinion-makers. Insiders within the Beltway know exactly how to orchestrate an election and he is not their choice. He languishes near the bottom of nine candidates, raising just enough money to establish a presence in 50 states and keep the campaign afloat. The media dismiss him. Pundits laugh.

And yet, there is something else moving. A deeper, more powerful current. The candidacy of our protagonist is discovered by those who have long given up on politics, who have long given up hoping that the Powers can be challenged or overcome. They have yet to meet a truly noble politician. They feel our protagonist's authenticity and wisdom in the debates. They marvel at the boldness of his policies. They sense his heart. And they come to the campaign, with trepidation at first, and then with passion.

Many of the brightest lights in the country -- authors, spiritual leaders, activists, visionaries, environmentalists, progressive business leaders, freedom-loving Americans of every political stripe -- begin to see something in our protagonist. They see hope. They see a leader who can help America fulfill its destiny.

His odds are impossibly long. He is the last-place horse with no pedigree and no support from the Powers. But fire -- yes, that horse has fire. And an indomitable heart. The trainers who have seen the horse up close know that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Seemingly out of nowhere, our long-shot protagonist begins to pick up momentum, surging from the back of the pack, despite the virtual media blackout. Inexplicably for the pundits, his web site climbs to #2 in traffic, ahead of most of the established, moneyed, pedigreed candidates. His campaign reverberates with passionate purpose. There are rumbles of something besides the blandly predictable march of the pundits' predictions. There is a whiff of destiny.

We arrive to today. The first part of this story has already been written. All that remains is the finale, the moment when our protagonist moves through the pack over long odds to win the nomination and then, after taking on the Powers, to triumph and become the leader of a once-proud nation, which again begins to stand in truth and justice. Our hero becomes a great President, leading the nation towards its highest destiny with integrity and honor.

This story is more than possible. It is the story we desperately need to recognize again the power of the human heart. It is the story we need for America to rekindle its noble destiny. The odds may seem long but that only adds to the beauty of the story. All that remains is that we author the final chapter.

We have the power to complete this story, a story that can blaze light across the world, inspiring the poor, downtrodden, and powerless, reminding each of us that we have greatness and magic in us that nothing can extinguish. We have the capacity to redeem our nation and stand on the world stage with wisdom, boldness, and love. It only takes believing enough to add our fire to the fire already blazing in the heart of Representative Dennis Kucinich and in his campaign.

I ask you, even dare you, to believe that this story is possible. It is time to mobilize the people who will author the final chapters of the story that we so desperately need to remember our mission and fulfill our destiny. May God bless America with the finale we deserve.