By DON DEENA JOHNSON

Dear Barack and John,

This has been a long and vigorous campaign. I am grateful for the hope I hear in your voices and in your words.

It is not uncommon in presidential campaigns to hear the inspirational call for national unity — the reminder that we are one nation; that together we solve our problems better than when we attempt to do so separately; that our lives as individuals and communities are inextricably woven together; that we are more alike than we are different; that together there is nothing we cannot do.

But I am watching and listening for you to call us to GLOBAL UNITY. Beyond nationalism, beyond religious affirmation, beyond ideology and culture, we are, after all, one human race. We are not so different from one another, no matter the language we speak or the world view that shapes our individual and emotional selves. We inhabit the same earth, and in this age of globalization, that which affects one of us, affects us all.

I would like to hear you imagine and dream and strategize about a different kind of foreign policy, a policy that approaches global issues from a new perspective, a policy that truly affirms all of the world’s people as sisters and brothers, a policy that established a new economic reality for our own nation as well as for nations around the globe. Instead of simply desiring a lasting peace, or defending the peace, how about WAGING PEACE? What are the weapons of peace? Have we even considered the thought?

And yes, this would cost us something — our pride, our privilege, our self-centeredness. But I am convinced that waging peace is less costly, will save more lives, will right more injustice, and will generate more goodwill in the world than waging war. If we truly want peace and justice we have to intentionally and consistently, so far as it is possible, live out peace and do justice. And we, even in the United States, really don’t do that very well.

I keep listening for you to announce your new plan for WAGING PEACE ON TERROR AND INJUSTICE in our world. Now that’s a platform on which I could stand with pride. That’s change I can believe in. Your election may be in our hands, but one of you will hold in your hands an opportunity to help shape the future of our world. What will you do with it?

Don Deena Johnson is a resident of Anderson.