The Simple Pen

Write words on paper…

Form sentences—well-crafted sentences.

Cluster them into paragraphs.

Gather the paragraphs into stories… or essays or speeches.

Weave them together and bind them into books…

…books that warm people on winter nights,

…or make good company at the lake house,

…or expose the plight and pain of the poor and oppressed…

…books that the give the common man or woman a taste of opportunity or culture or beauty…

…books that move people to noble deeds or inspire them to live in a more honorable way.

This is the way nations rise and fall.

By words thus employed, destinies are forged and people rise up from hopeless despair… and men and women find their way to God, forgiveness, meaning, mercy and hope…

…all this with the simple pen.