with Orthodoxy or with monastic hfe—monasticism associatedrnwith the struggle against depravity in a large urban communityrn—but new spiritual seeds are being sowed in the capitalrnof Nebraska, a city and a region where people are mindful ofrntheir spiritual heritage and the imperatives of human culturernfor a wholesome society.rnFrom the perspective of the early 1990’s, the Plains states arernan increasingly important resource for the nation, hi a world inrnwhich the population may double in size in a few decades, thernagricultural capacity of this breadbasket region is of central importance.rnIts economic destiny will surely be built around itsrnrich agricultural resources. There will be changes, of course,rnand one of the most important undoubtedly will be a shift inrnproduction from raw agricultural commodities to finished agriculturalrnproducts. It seems inevitable that regional awarenessrnof this will grow and that the process of agricultural developmentrnand transformation will involve the creation of a midcontinentalrneconomic alliance that will feature interstate cooperationrnand compacts, widening in time into a truerneconomic community with a formal structure.rnA key aspect of the region’s potential is the fact that the peoplernof the Plains states have the mental outlook of producers,rnwhereas so many Americans today think of themselves solely asrnconsumers. But it is not only as an agricultural resource basernthat the region has significance for the nation. With its excellentrnhuman stock, sense of community, strong moral base,rnand absence of the crowding that plagues the two coasts, thernPlains states ma’ well harken back to the spirit and organizationalrninitiatives of a century ago when William Jennings Bryanrnhighlighted the need for a moral revolution in the Americanrnsystem. The strength and character of Plains people werernmanifested again during and after the Great Flood of 1993.rnThe national moral landscape is a near-disaster in a once trulyrnfree, morally healthy, and vigorous society. To comprehendrnthe depths to which great population centers have sunk, onernhas only to look at New York City, where the school board, overrnthe objection of concerned parents, imposed a “diversity” curriculumrnthat seeks to erase historic teaching about the evil ofrnsexual perversion and where small children are being subjectedrnto sensitivity training to make them accept the idea of homosexualrnunions. The depravity involved in this process remindsrncivilized people of the efforts of Nazi school authoritiesrnin the 1930’s to subvert Christian teachings. The purveyors ofrnsick ideas seek a “final solution” to Judeo-Christian ethics,rnand the Plains states, as a morally healthy region, therefore representrna takeoff point for the moral revolution that Americanrnsociety as a whole so desperately needs as we approach the endrnof the millennium. This is the true and greatest significance ofrnthe mid-continental region, which has remained largely uncorrupted.rnReformation from within, in the spiritual as well asrnthe geographical sense, is a real possibility and tremendous opportunityrnfor the people of the American interior. It is the challengernfacing the mid-continent today and tomorrow.rnMetamorphosisrnby Rudolph SchirmerrnEarthbound, but Heaven-bent.rnSchismatic situation!rnNo wonder that the larkrnBecame a happy harbinger.rnThe butterfly a beckoner.rnThe buttercup a chalice.rnSo it will bernWhen after timeless wanderingsrnReturning home we findrnThat there have beenrnRemodelers at workrnAnd what was once a housernIs now a palace.rnDECEMBER 1993/25rnrnrn