Earn this. A small prayer.

Tom Hanks is my favorite actor on the planet, and a favorite human person.  In Saving Private Ryan, one of my favorite WWII movies, Tom's character grabs Ryan by the shirt and says Earn This. Very powerful scene.


Earn This.

In another powerful moment, Ryan, now old, asks his wife if he was a good man, surrounded by his children at the graves of those who gave all. If you haven't watched this movie, you should.

I think of these scenes, those two simple words, as President Obama returns home, Nobel Peace Prize in hand, to preside over a troubled nation at war.

I want to respectfully touch his hand and say Earn This.

Earn This.

I believe in you, and in us. I want - need - to believe.

Earn this.

I think he already knows, but I want to be sure.

Tell our elected officials to quit bickering and help you. Demand it.

Demand that America earn peace. We can argue all day about who or how these wars have started, the ones across the ocean, and the ones within our bitter, partisan and myopic walls, or we can simply stop yelling and start working together, toward peace, jobs, education, health, food and energy and hope for our future generations.

We have this amazing Constitution, Bill of Rights, and ideals of freedom, liberty and justice for all. We are not there. Look around. There is so much work to be done and so much at stake. We need to make peace with ourselves, as a people, and look to the future we shape for our children. I'm not sure how to start, but I know I'm ready.

The Nobel committee has extended this gift of hope to our President, and us, and I hope we earn this.