Power, Power, to Have or Not, That is the Question.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” -- Abraham Lincoln

Absolute power corrupts absolutely is the theme of Robert Penn Warren's classic novel All the King's Men as it charts the spectacular rise and fall of a charismatic Southern politician, "Boss" Willie Stark and of Jack Burden, the once idealistic, now embittered ex-reporter who unwittingly fuels Stark's corrupt political ambitions.

Michael Pritchard reflects, “No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather.”

The film makes us think of what is truly important at the end of the day. To what are we giving our lives to?

Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian novelist, philosopher, Christian anarchist and pacifist, had some incredible thoughts about political power. He said, “In order to obtain and hold power a man must love it. Thus the effort to get it is not likely to be coupled with goodness, but with the opposite qualities of pride, craft, and cruelty.” And to this he adds, “Without hypocrisy, lying, punishments, prisons, fortresses, and murders, no new power can arise and no existing one hold its own.” And that is a heavy thought.

Can you imagine a world where corrupt political power can not arise? Faith believes in “a new world coming, wherein righteousness prevails.” Until such a time, though, a better world begins with you and me.