Faith is something hard to define but it is a force far deeper than blind adherence to dogma or human authority. For this Posting, faith is the fuel for the courage to live as a human being; nothing more than a human being and nothing less.  To be human is to accept one is imperfect.  To be human is to realize one must connect and cooperate with other human beings who are as imperfect as you.  Finally to be human is to accept your inborn need to express your gifts and for others to express theirs.  Faith then ultimately is the trust that this society of imperfection can turn out well and good.

Efficacy and faith are closely related.  Efficacy is, briefly, ‘the sense of being capable’.  Efficacy is not so much a birthright, but a profound universal human need.  Any autocrat, dictator or control addict sooner or later  comes to grief when they try to quash efficacy in their community or nation. Human beings as individuals seem built to express themselves as they see it. Efficacy is the first point on the triangle.  Power is the second, but unlike efficacy, power is transactional.  Power goes where the price or position is right and cares not a wit about morality.  We all need some power to promote our particular form of efficacy but not nearly as much as one would think these days. Fame is the mayfly of the triangle.  Fame comes and goes, but stays longer with the people who manage to humanely blend efficacy with power. With fame often comes wealth so it is much sought after.  

The Triangle of of Efficacy, Power and Fame turns deadly when efficacy is the weakest element. We see that in todays government.  We have leadership who so doubt their own efficacy they become black holes trying to fill themselves with power and fame.  But as our President is learning, his quest for personal efficacy is being squandered as he names all the buildings he can see after himself, has through his public office acquired so much money for his private self and family there is nothing but gilded gold to buy, and even has sent his nation to war using the poetry of patriotism.  He remains desperate and hungry for sufficient efficacy. It is as sad as it is dangerous for this imbalance of the deadly triangle is epidemic in the power soaked realm of politics. 

Modest Proposal for Good;

Power without efficacy leads to bluster and blunder.  Fame without efficacy leads to preening and pathetic vanity.  Good leaders know almost instinctively to tend to the efficacy of every individual in his or her realm of responsibility.  Good leaders know how to share power to competence in the followers and to invest in skill and security. Fame sometimes comes to good leaders and is worn like a cloud and not a suit of armor.  Good leaders know how to balance the triangle and dance on it to avoid the fatal black hole of self absorption.  Elect leaders who you would hire for your organization and you could work with on a daily basis.  This era of retribution represents a stall on the American Dream. Elect leaders who can share the dream, its work, its risks, and its rewards.  Elect the faithful to bring back the American dream. That would be good.