These words were once penned by one of the mightiest men in our movement. Understand, of course, there are still miles to go before we sleep. But read, Dear Friend, and take heart.

And the  Land Shall Be Made Good Again

George K. Staropoli

 In the  beginning

There was  the land,

And the  land was good

And the  people were happy.

 

Soon upon  the land

Came the  moneychangers

In the  guise of builders

Of the  community.

 

And the  moneychangers said

Behold,  the covenants, conditions and restrictions

Were  sacred and holy works,

And the  people shall flourish and prosper.

 

And the  legislature looked upon these CC&Rs

And said  they were sacred and holy,

And that land values shall multiply ten-fold,

And the  people shall flourish and prosper.

 

But the  moneychangers were not content,

Seeking  laws that forced the people

Against  their judgment and wishes

Into mandated planned communities.

 

Soon, the  multitude became angry at their plight,

Yet the  moneychangers and legislature

Cast the  people into involuntary servitudes

With  continued tithes while disputes went unresolved.

 

The  child-like people, seeking paradise

on earth and the gates of heaven,

Were not permitted audiences

With the  magistrates.

 

And so  the multitude suffered

A long  and terrible time,

Praying  for a savior one day

To  deliver them from their existence.

 

One sect  sought the accommodation

With the  ruling powers and moneychangers.

Another  sought a cleansing

Of an  unworkable oppression upon the people.

 

Those  seeking accommodation held fast to their desires

To see  their fortunes on earth multiply ten-fold,

And that  all such plans were good and just,

For the  land values increased for all the community.

 

But many  saw the desecration of the beliefs, values and ideals

Of the  founders of the Great Nation that covered the land,

Saying  behold the society that thou hast created,

Where Me First has replaced Love Thy Neighbor.

 

A babble  of communities arose

By the  followers of the moneychangers,

With  beliefs, values and ideals of the Old Ways,

Once  rejected by the Founders of the Great Nation.

 

Woe unto the followers of the  moneychangers

For the  sins of the fathers shall be cast upon the sons.

Repent  now and restore the beliefs, values and ideals

Of the  Great Nation and make the land good once again.