The Apostle Paul writes, "In your minds you must be as Christ Jesus. His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God, but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and become as we are" (Phil. 2:5,7). Are these words also words for the nations? Is it possible that a nation can become one among the nations as Christ became one among us? If it is true that the question of the returning Christ is also a question for the nations, then that question requires not only an individual but also a national conversion. As long as the overarching concern of the United States is to be, at all cost, the most powerful nation of the earth, we may become the reluctant participants in the hastening of the Judgment Day, since in this nuclear age the cost for remaining the most powerful nation on the earth quite likely is the end of all human life on this planet.

Thus we are faced with the greatest spiritual challenge ever presented: to be converted as a nation and follow the humble way of Christ. Is that a possibility? It has become a necessity for our survival. It has become our most urgent task to find our true identity among the nations and to let go from the illusory identities that continue to breed one war after another. The tragedy is that the political discussion among our people and their representatives has been narrowed down to such a small base that no truly political concern can be brought to the foreground without threatening the political survival of its spokesperson. When the only acceptable question has become, "Should the Sandinista regime be overthrown overtly or covertly?" politics has already become the victim of the totalitarianism it is trying to stop from coming to its borders.

The real issue that faces us today is "What does it mean to be a nation in a world that is able to destroy itself at any moment?" That is the issue that has to be brought to the center of the attention of our people. If ever, it is today that politicians are called to be wise people, that is, women and men who can raise the issue of national identity and offer a vision of how to be a nation living in harmony among nations freely using its power to serve rather than dominate. I sense that many personal sacrifices in the political arena will be necessary to reach this point of national discussion aiming at national conversion. Many who possess political power today will need to take great risks at the cost of their own political future and will have to be willing to let go of opressive power, in order to empower other nations, and thus further justice and peace in the world. Without such sacrifices there will no longer be a true dialogue in the world of politics, but only a tryannical monologue leading to the absurd silence not only of politicians but of all human beings. Then we will have created our own day of judgment and will have become our own judges.

This is precisely what the last judgment is all about. The Lord who becomes one of us in humility does not really judge us. He reveals to us what we have become to each other. The day of judgment is in fact the day of recognition, the day on which we see for ourselves what we have done to our brothers and sisters, and how we have treated the divine body of which we are part.

Thus the question, "What have you done to the least of mine?" is not only the question of injustice and the question of peace it also is the question by which we judge ourselves. It is the answer to that question which will determine the existence of non-existence of our human family.

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