The TV show Kid Nation poses a prophetic question: Are we a nation of kids?

Are we immature, insecure, undisciplined, driven by whims and desires, possessive, rebellious, disrespectful, materialistic, and self-focused like spoiled kids?

Or are we responsible, disciplined, self-controlled, caring, and other-focused like mature adults?

What do you think?

Motivation Quotation: “Do no harm to anyone, do not think anything bad in your heart towards anyone. Do not have hostile feelings towards anyone and do not let dislike dominate your heart. Encourage yourself with this thought, ‘Affliction lasts but a short time, while peace is forever.’” –Abba Moses the Black Man

Motivation In Action: Moses, who was known as ”the Robber” or “the Black Man,” was a released slave who lived as a robber in Egypt. Late in his life he encountered Jesus Christ and turned his life around. From then on he lived as a monk and a priest in the deserts of Egypt and Palestine. There are several quotations by him and stories about him in the book: "Sayings Of The Desert Fathers."

If a hardened robber can find great personal peace and joy, so can we. Moses learned a powerful secret, “do not let dislike dominate your heart.” Dislike is a disturbing distraction. It is so easy to focus on people or things that we dislike and thus miss all the wonderful beauty and blessings around us.

Hostile feelings are robbers that steal and disrupt our peace. Our own hostile feelings are our enemies, not other people or things.

We can begin to eliminate hostile feelings from our heart by refusing to think bad thoughts about people. No matter what bad things someone has done or said, we can choose to believe that they acted out of their pain or their ignorance. This will enable us to think compassionate thoughts about them, which will lead us to feelings of compassion rather than hostility.

We can encourage ourself by remembering that any affliction people have caused us is only temporary, while our inner peace — our victory over hostility — is long lasting. Thanks Moses for your great example and your powerful words!

Many people are concerned about what other people think about them. The problem with this concern, however, is that most other people are far to busy to think very much about them at all.

So there is really no need to worry about what other people think about you. Other people are too focused on their own problems, fears, insecurities, and heartaches to think much about you. And besides that, they are worrying about what you think about them. They just don’t have time to think about you.

I like Paul of Tarsus’ attitude about what other people thought about him. He said: “It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by men’s judgment.”

What really counts and impacts your life is not what other people think about you, but what you think about yourself — and that is something that you have complete control over. Are you living the kind of life that makes you feel good about yourself? Or the kind of life that makes you feel guilty and condemned? That is your free choice!

All human beings have God-given rights that should be respected by governments, religions, corporations, and individuals. Many human rights are being proclaimed, defended, and protected by individuals and organizations around the world.

The following human rights, however, have been neglected, ignored, and forgotten both by individuals and by institutions. No organization is fighting to protect these rights. If you want these ignored human rights you will have to personally fight to secure them for yourself.

The ignored human rights are:

1) The right to personal peace of mind.

2) The right to freedom from bondage to tormenting inner compulsions and self-destructive habits.

3) The right to genuine self-esteem and self-respect.

4) The right to freedom from guilt and shame.

5) The right to encouraging and fulfilling relationships with other people.

6) The right to victory over worry and fear.

7) The right to an inspiring and motivating dream or purpose.

8) The right to enthusiasm and excitement about being alive.

9) The right to a sense of personal fulfillment and accomplishment — a job well done.

10) The right to the daily enjoyment of life, family, friends , beauty, nature, and work.

Here’s is a great idea for ending the home grown terrorism in America. Immediately send everyone (no exceptions) who is convicted of any violent crime or of any illegal possession of a weapon, to combat in Iraq. We should also include those convicted of drunk driving since it is an act of random violence.

I’ve seen this idea work in the rehab where I work. We have around 80 men who live and work together for six months. Many of those guys have been in jail or in prison for violence and many have used violence on the streets and were not caught. However in five years I have only heard of two situations where violence was used in our rehab and both of those were minor pushing and shoving. Why?

First, Christian lifestyle principles and prayer are taught and used daily. Second, we have a rule that if there is any violence at all, both parties involved will be immediately kicked out of the program. It works!

So, hey, why not try it in America? Our home grown terrorism has to stop! When there is a military draft our government takes innocent citizens and sends them to die in combat. If the innocent can be treated that way, why not those guilty of using violence or the threat of violence in America? If people want to engage in violence, let’s give them the opportunity to have all the violence they want in a foreign combat zone.

We could even make the rule retroactive and empty our prisons of violent people. It worked in the movie, The Dirty Dozen. Why don’t we give it a try?