Government of The One: How Your Can Change the World

today.

Introduction

On January 1, 1752 a fourth-generation American baby girl was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents named her Elizabeth Griscom and she was the eighth child out of 17 in her family. She went to Friends (Quaker) public school to receive an education in a trade. Upon completing her training, she was apprenticed to an upholsterer. Another apprentice, John, captured her attention and her heart. He was the son of an Episcopalian assistant rector at Christ Church.

For a member of the Quakers society, marriage out of the religious sect was strictly forbidden. To do so meant the immediate expulsion and dissolution of any ties not only to the sect, but to the family as well. In spite of this, Elizabeth’s love for John superseded all else and the couple crossed the Delaware River to New Jersey to be married in Hugg’s Tavern in November 1773. The wedding certificate was signed by New Jersey’s governor, William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin. Elizabeth sacrificed all she had known up to that point to marry her sweetheart.

The couple started an upholstery business. Elizabeth attended Christ Church with her husband. Interestingly, George Washington, who was commander in chief of the American army, also attended the same church when time allowed.

The year 1776 was a trying year. Philadelphia was torn in its loyalties between the revolutionaries (Patriots) and the Tories (king men). Elizabeth and John were struggling in their business. There was a shortage of fabric, so John joined the Pennsylvania militia. He was mortally wounded while he was guarding an ammunition cache. Elizabeth tried to nurse him back to health, but all efforts failed and John was buried at Christ Church cemetery.

Elizabeth returned to the Quakers, who were experiencing turmoil within the fold. The Quaker religion forbade bearing arms. However, some of the members believed in the yearnings of this young nation to be free from tyranny. Elizabeth joined the Free or Fighting Quakers, who supported the war effort.

In June 1777 she married a sea captain named Joseph Ashburn. British soldiers occupied Philadelphia at that time and forced the couple to provide lodgings under their own roof. While the British troops enjoyed the comforts of home, the Continental Army was suffering extreme hardships of starvation and lack of proper clothing and shoes in devastating cold weather. Sickness and death claimed the lives of many at Valley Forge.

Joseph sailed to the West Indies to purchase war supplies for the Revolution. He was captured by the British and sent to prison in England, where he died.

Elizabeth then married John Claypoole and they raised a family together until he died in 1817. She continued in the upholstery business from the time of its inception and throughout her life until she retired in 1827. She provided support for many members of her family by offering work for them in her business.

The more common name for Elizabeth is Betsy Ross. Although there are varying accounts of her accomplishments, her life is an example of sacrifice to support the country she loved and a willingness to see the whole picture instead of focusing on her own small piece of the world. She possessed attributes of being family oriented, steadfast, and loyal to the cause of freedom in spite of personal tragedies.

A big healthy baby boy was born in Virginia on February 22, 1732. During his early years he lived in an isolated area and associated mostly with his family. As he grew into adulthood, he was shy and reserved with the fairer sex. Eventually he married a widow with two young children.

He felt his education was desperately lacking for most of his life and he depended greatly on innate feelings and common sense. He spent much time in meditation upon the challenges that faced him.

He passionately desired to succeed as a farmer and experimented in crop rotation. He invented a drill plow that automatically fed seeds into furrows and implemented it on his own farm.

He expanded his goal to be self-sufficient and created a community within a farm. He owned a water-powered flour mill, fisheries, a blacksmith shop, a greenhouse, orchards, and brick and charcoal kilns. He hired or trained servants to be carpenters, shoemakers, spinners, weavers, coopers, and masons.

Does this man sound familiar to you? It is George Washington. His life and accomplishments speak for themselves. Did he seek to become the Father of our nation? Definitely not! In fact, it was his great desire to spend his days with his beloved Martha on their extensive farm at Mount Vernon; yet he would not ignore the greater need of the fledgling nation to answer the call to be the first commander in chief of a ragtag army.

He spent years away from his home and family to serve in a sometimes thankless position and went on to become the first president of what became the United States of America. His least desire was to be in a position of power and authority. He wished with all his heart that he could reject those positions in good conscience. For the sake of the country he did not.

The cry of a newborn baby filled the air in an obscure one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The father was a poor farmer who moved from one piece of land to another trying to provide for the family. The mother died when the boy was only 10 years old and the father married a woman who invested time and love in this gangly young man. There was little formal education available for the boy and most of his learning took place as a result of his own insatiable desire to read and extend his experiences beyond the physical labor of farm life.

He suffered from bouts of depression and was surrounded with failures time and time again. He was no stranger to sorrow. He struggled to own lucrative businesses, lost children to death, and learned how to survive when all the odds seemed stacked against him.

He belonged to the Whig political party and wrote at least two autobiographies in two years. He personally dealt with the consequences of the most serious struggle ever experienced within the boundaries of the United States, and there were times he stood alone among men, believing in a cause that appeared to be lost.

The identity of this man is Abraham Lincoln. He possessed the same attributes as Washington and faced intense problems that equaled the challenges Washington faced. Although some friends betrayed Washington, the majority of the people respected him and he was never without a friend.

In contrast, there was a time near the end of the Civil War when even Lincoln’s friends stood against him on the issue of slavery. Some argued that states entering the union from that point on would not have the ability to choose slavery, but states that already depended economically on slavery should be allowed to continue. Lincoln was unwavering on the principles he knew to be true even when the tide of public opinion had turned against him.

He was nicknamed Honest Abe. How different the world would be if the majority of people were honest in all situations, not just when it suited their purpose.

And last, but not least, somewhere in time a baby girl was born. In another place and time a baby boy was born. You are that baby girl or boy. You were born with an innate power. You influenced many people’s lives as you grew, perhaps without even being aware of the fact. In turn, people knew who you were and influenced your life in a variety of ways, sometimes positively and other times negatively. Without a doubt you influenced. You acted and were acted upon.

As you continually discovered elements of your environment, you began to mold and transform your personality and beliefs to become the person you are today. You may have wondered, Do I really make any difference in the world by existing? Without a doubt, the answer is, Yes!

You have a power within you that may yet be undiscovered, but you have the power to make a difference in the world. The key to unlock that power is knowledge. Each person is unique. Each person has something to give to the world and to learn from it. No one else in the world can adequately accomplish, in exactly the same way, the things you can accomplish. These destinies, if you don’t mind me phrasing it that way, are individual. It is true that other people may be able to complete a task as well or even better than you in some areas; but the unique way you interact with others around you is truly only yours to give.

What you do with that innate power is part of the quest of life. The power to influence successfully is unlocked as we discover that everything we do begins with a thought. Then how we respond to the thought starts a succession of events. Every thought and action has a consequence no matter how small. One decision builds upon another and shapes not only our personal world or environment, but has a rippling effect that can influence the rest of the world as well. Everything that happens in the world is initiated by individuals, who may decide to act alone or as a group with other individuals who have similar desires. The key to unlock the door of individual power is learning how to use the Government of the One.

Chapter One

Government of the One

The Government of the One begins from the first moment a young child can make a decision. The environment in which a child is raised influences his or her power to discern how to use individual government to make decisions. Patterns are established early in life that will influence how decisions are made. From that point on, more patterns will be added to the fabric of life. Therefore, it is of supreme importance to set up patterns that will bring the desired consequences. When negative patterns creep in, they can be changed through conscious effort. If a person sees that his or her decisions are bringing negative reactions, it is possible to set up new patterns to replace the old ones.

This book will explore the idea that every action starts with a thought. How a person responds to the thought can make a huge difference in the path a life may take. The consequence of decisions may be large or small. We can learn from both negative and positive consequences; however, the more positive consequences we have, the more secure and in control of life we feel. Developing the skills for a positive self-government is an ongoing process throughout life. Learning how to use self-government wisely benefits not only the individual, but influences the family, community, state, nation, and even the world.

Lack of using self-government wisely has brought down nations and cultures. Nothing has happened in this world that cannot be traced back to the Government of the One.

What I experienced as I was growing up greatly influenced my power to make decisions. Since I have experienced the negative and positive consequences of my Government of the One, I will use examples from my life.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN WITH ME

I grew up in Winslow, a small town in northern Arizona. Most of the homes in the town were modest. Our home was no exception. The majority of people, including my family, believed in hard work and thriftiness.

My father, like my grandfather and uncle, worked for the Santa Fe railroad. When my father first went to work for the railroad, many employees were laid off for half of the year until they had tenure. My father scrambled to compete for any work that would pay the bills for the remaining six months.

As a result of our economic situation, my sister and I did not have an abundance of toys or things, but that only enhanced our imaginations. We would create an imaginary world from a simple piece of wood my sister, Pam, carved into a sword, which turned us from mere children into Amazon women, boldly fighting for the freedom of our society. Or a piece of rope hanging from our willow tree transformed into a vine from which we could swing through the jungle as free as Tarzan. The sprinkler on our grass became a dangerous waterfall in the world of nymphs. The mountains made of sandstone outside our town became a distant planet and we were the first people to plant our feet on virgin soil to discover the wonders of the universe. An oil ditch not far from our home was a secret hideout in which we imagined ourselves as spies lurking along the banks of the ditch in search of closely guarded secrets from opposing forces. All of these games and more filled our free time and fired our imaginations, which transformed our bleak desert into any world we desired.

Because our town was located in the high desert, the landscape was mostly barren except for tumbleweeds, scrub brush, and red clay dirt. Snakes could be found sunning themselves in the spring and early summer. Lizards scurried from bush to bush trying to find shade in the summer heat. Horny toads waited beside sandstone rocks for a fly to pass by.

We had a moss-infested river not far from town, which cut its way through sheer high sandstone cliffs. Ironically, it was named Clear Creek. Families escaped from the heat of the summer to the dark cool waters of the river. Teenagers escaped all year round from under the watchful eyes of their parents to have parties and dare each other to jump off the high cliffs into the murky waters.

Winters were mostly cold and harsh. Winds whistled through the trees from September through the end of April, stirring up the dried leaves and wrestling them along with the tumble-weeds, but I loved the coziness of a warm house and dinner cooking on the stove when I arrived home from school on a cold winter day.

Autumn was and is still my favorite time of year. I loved the hot summer days turning into warm days and cool nights. I liked the wind whipping the wet clothes almost out of my hand as I hung them up on the line outside to dry. I pictured a battle between me and nature, with me determined to be the victor. I enjoyed watching the leaves fall from the trees as I walked to school. The colors of autumn are beautiful with the shades of green, yellow, orange, and red.

I’ve made it a habit to pick up the different colored leaves every year and decorate our house with them. I have always liked the harvest season, gathering in food from the garden and enjoying the labor of our own hands as we sit down to eat a meal filled with good food grown in our own backyard. The sights and smells of autumn bring back many warm feelings to my heart and soul.

Spring is a season of promise; the promise that we have survived another cozy, and sometimes bitter winter, and that new life is about to emerge from the frozen ground. In essence, I guess there’s not one season of the year that I don’t love. Each has its beauties, its strengths, and its lessons we can learn.

Many lessons were learned while sitting in front of the heater in the living room with my sister and listening to my mother and father talk in the kitchen. My father talked of challenges in our community or in our family. He talked adamantly of what was happening in the world and decried the ills of society. Although he was not a college-educated man, he was very intelligent, reading as much as time would allow. I would call him a self-educated man. He could readily discuss almost any subject that was brought up.

My father was particularly interested in financial affairs, which he passed on to me. We discussed the Depression era and how to guard against the ills of that time period. I also became fascinated with the era and have tried to apply what I learned in my own life. I have also tried to teach my own children the same tools to guard against indebtedness.

My mother, who had to work very hard most of her life, was not able to complete her high school education, but was just as knowledgeable as my father. However, her wisdom radiated from common sense.

My mother chose to focus her time on raising my sister and me, in