"I can't believe how much you've grown!" How many times have you said this to a child you haven't seen for several years? Several years can make a lot of difference in a nation's life as well.

If anyone had said in early 2001 that the United States would be spending nearly $500 billion for military operations by 2006, they would have been dismissed as naïve. In 2001, U.S. military spending hovered around $300 billion. The Cold War was over and while a "peace dividend" was never fully realized, at least military spending had leveled off.

And then came Sept. 11, 2001.

So much has changed in the last five years. Runaway military spending is only part of the picture. In the name of preserving freedom and democracy, the United States is acting less and less like a free and democratic nation. Thick metal bollards anchored in tons of concrete now ring all major buildings on Capitol Hill. Barricades and fences impede the flow of people and vehicles. No expense has been spared in trying to "terror-proof" the U.S. capital.

More significantly, the United States has sacrificed long-standing principles and treaties at the altar of national security. National leaders now accept preventive war-going to war based on the fear of being attacked at a future date. U.S. officials equivocate rather than plainly denounce the use of torture. The Bush administration continues to explore how to build new nuclear weapons while demanding that other countries not do so.

Might the words of Jesus be relevant for us today? "Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it" (Luke 17:33). What if instead of being consumed with U.S. security, our nation chose to "lose" its life for the benefit of others?