God, presented us with an interesting opportunity this past Tuesday. Or, perhaps it was our collective conscious that created the chance. Either way, the people of the United States sent one of our previous supreme leaders into the hostile territory of a rogue nation to rescue a couple of American citizens. And it worked. Peacefully. Hmm.
It was 2002 when Neale Donald Walsch published his book "The New Revelations: A Conversation with God." The September 11th terrorist attacks had taken place the year before and Neale was understandably distraught over the violent course that we humans insist upon taking. As you probably know, the book deals largely with our need, as a species, to begin distancing ourselves from this annoying perception of separation...from both God and our fellow man. It's a desperate call FROM ourselves TO ourselves to stop the insane desire for dominance. To change a world choking on government after government and country after country and religion after religion fighting for power, ego and the status-quo.
And then, on Tuesday, a man who grew up fatherless in the poor state of Arkansas, strolled across the border of one of America's most bitter enemies and said "Whaddaya think? Maybe we can work this one out."
Bill Clinton is one amazing dude. For most of my career, I've been an on-air radio personality and it was during the campaign of 2004 that the former president appeared on my show for a short chat. For years, I'd read stories about what a skilled politician he was was; how he possessed the inate ability to quickly charm anyone that ventured into his presence. Frankly, I'm not easily impressed by celebrity or power. I've met and interviewed hundreds of big names, stars, politicians and humans of significant stature. But, with all that said, it took me about 15 seconds to fall in love with the man. I'm tellin' ya, my new buddy Bill made me feel as if we'd been best friends forever. In our chat before going on-air, even across a phone line, his personality grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I simply have never come across a man more charismatic than William Jefferson Clinton. It's an intangible quality in a person that somewhat defies description unless you've experienced it.
So I understand what Kim Jong-il felt when he came into the presence of the former president of the United States. Mr. Clinton was there to negotiate the release of two Americans essentially held hostage by the rogue nation. There was simply no way that the North Korean dictator was going to be able to say "no" to Hillary's beau. The man with the funny glasses was way out of his league.
Of course, it wasn't ALL about Bill. The communist government wanted an easy way out of the situation. Here, they had a chance to "save face" and put a positive PR spin on an image that's been spiraling downward. They get guys like me to write stories on blogs like this praising North Korea for their great "humanitarian gesture."
But you know what? In a way that doesn't matter. As the Conversations with God principles teach us, every human and every government is operating according to their model of the world. A good majority of the humans on this planet agree that nations like North Korea are "wrong" while Kim Jong -il and others among his government have an entirely different perspective.
Their actions were probably entirely self-serving. But it opened up at least some small path to potential peace. God listened to our will. He put an exceptionally charismatic American face-to-face with North Korean leadership and showed both sides that they could work together. Now, the universe has enjoyed a taste of this cooperation. Perhaps our collective conscious will now be willing to try the same approach more and more often.
It ain't much but it's a start.
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