What if we told you: conjugate Switzerland in the past, present and future? A few years before the 700th anniversary of the creation of the Swiss Confederation, this idea resonated in me, filled the air and gave joyful shapes to the clouds as I visited the Ranft Gorge, the deep valley where Nicolas de Flue lived as a hermit for 20 years.

The serenity of the place awakened my patriotism and invited me to emphasize the ferments of our spiritual heritage, to consider our destiny hidden behind the fabric of our current concerns.

At the time of the Rütli oath, our ancestors were rather warlike. At the Diet of Stans in 1481, civil war threatened confederates who could not agree on the admission of Fribourg and Solothurn into the Confederation.

The intervention of Nicholas of Flüe miraculously resolved the situation, and it was from this moment on that a real policy of alliance and neutrality emerged. What did the hermit say? We do not know exactly, but one of his words expresses well the spirit with which he was filled: "There is no other peace than the inner peace which comes from the agreement of the human soul with the divine will. Let us establish this peace within ourselves and it will then naturally establish itself around us, influence politicians and the relations of states between them.

Can we say that we know the significance of this sentence? In itself is the cause of our neutrality and abundance today, through it are discerned our future possibilities... When one observes how much the influence of an inspired man has allowed the development of the humanitarian vocation of our country, a vocation that has found multiple applications in our century, one can only be impatient to see the Swiss population and its elected representatives take up the torch with enthusiasm!

In other words, what Nicholas de Flue did for Switzerland, Switzerland can do for the world. It is the same spirit that is at work.

There is only one recipe for happiness, and that is to give yourself. Already now, we see the guidelines of our role, we become aware that our well-being is indissolubly linked to that of all humans. In the near future, Switzerland will recognize its mission as a place of conciliation, understanding and exchange of love and will use its neutrality to guarantee peace, justice and harmony on Earth. Soon, our banks, our tourist infrastructure, our intellectual and industrial capital, our precision, in short, everything that makes up Switzerland will be offered to the world for the sole purpose of fostering harmony on a global scale. Our political atmosphere will be transformed, the people will feel concerned and our leaders will feel like they are growing wings, having finally motivating files to deal with.

I am not dreaming. Evolution is an infallible process. While generations pass quickly, the destiny of a country is the subject of a much longer-term plan. The bubbling of the stream that runs at the bottom of the Ranft gorge gave me a glimpse of our future...

In this same place, very recently, John Paul II evoked the memory of Nicholas de Flue: "One would think one could hear his voice calling us to peace. Peace in your country, peace in the world, peace in your hearts. And he added: "Switzerland can bring peace to the world.

Alain-Yan Mohr,

August 1, 1984.