Lane von Herzen: What Is the Battle for the Soul of the Country?

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

What Is the Battle for the Soul of the Country?

On voting day, concerned Americans might ask themselves the question so foundational to our democracy," What is the battle for the soul of the country?"

It is the battle for truth over lies.

For justice over injustice.

For integrity over deceit.

For courage over cowardice.

For insight over ignorance.

For compassion over cruelty.

For protection over predation.

For faith over hopelessness.

For good over evil.

Nothing less than this.

Human beings are capable of uplifting one another, healing one another, enlightening one another, transforming one another, saving one another.

And this is our highest calling.

The smallest gesture of kindness, from one stranger to another, is heroic, momentous, all-important.

Because it is not motivated by a Bitcoin account or coerced by a threat.

It is a gesture of free will. It is an expression of a sovereign soul. It is a choice for goodness.

And on this voting day, as on next year's voting day, it is critical that American voters perceive where goodness stands.

It stands with President Joseph Robinette Biden and the Democratic Party.

And so do I.

Lane MacWilliams

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Please be apprised that I will not be voting today for the sole reason that there is no vote in San Mateo County, where I reside. (Please see below.)

Because FBI affiliates have allegedly extended false assertions that I have not voted in the past (I have always voted), I felt it was important to make this information publicly available.

Most sincerely,