GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Jan. 6, 2004 --There are many battle cries registered over eons of time.  
     They range from Shakespeare's Henry V cry:  "God for Harry, England and Saint George!"  to the U.S. Marine's "Gung Ho!" recorded by novelist Leon Uris.

        Great statesmen such as Winston Churchill have used battle cries to engage the power of a nation to withstand the Great Beast of Nazi Terror threatening to swallow the small island of Britain.   In his most famous speech, delivered on June 18, 1940, just prior to the Battle of Britain he said:

 The Battle of Britain is about to begin. On this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization...Hitler knows he will have to break us in this island or lose the war.

If we can stand up to him all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad sunlit uplands; but if we fail, the whole world, including the United States and all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister and perhaps more prolonged by the lights of a perverted science.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."
        

         In our daily battles against the impact of all forms of Terrorism in our lives, we face countless Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies.  Sometimes they take form of noxious little Ants of Terrorism, and other times they loom as large King Kong, driving us to our knees.  
         Little Terrorisms grow into larger ones.  They accumulate like pieces of gum stuck to our shoes, making us eventually unable to walk, clogging our ability to move through life without tripping and falling.
          Sometimes it is difficult to muster the Sentinels of Vigilance and hold up our Shields and Swords of Vigilance, for we become victims of the Ants of Terrorism.  We forget the little Terrorisms grow into giant ones when left unattended.
           So what do we use as our Battle Cry to keep our feet from sinking in the quagmire of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency that grows soft and soggy under our weight as we march through life's potholes?
           One simple and effective battle cry I've found is EGBOK.

           The word comes from a couple of Southern California radio announcers, Ken and Bob, who used to beam those words to hungry ears wending their way through frustrating traffic.   It became an antidote to many who were about to boil over with rage and frustration as the Ants of Terror crawled over them in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
            EGBOK simply stands for Everything's-Gonna-Be-Okay!
            In other words, there's light at the end of the Beast of Terror's tunnel.  
            EGBOK, shouted out or whispered, can be an easy reminder that life is not over just because the yoke of daily problems have crushed one's shoulders and darkened the sunlight.
            The Beast of Terror loves to blind us all with Futility, making us think we are destined to live with our feet nailed to one spot, unable to move out of the ruts we have produced.   
            EGBOK frees us from this prison of self-deception where we zip up our body bags and wait for the dirt to be thrown in.
            EGBOK ignites the light at the end of dark tunnels.  It is a Vigilant Battle Cry that reminds us that Courage, Conviction and Right Actions--while perhaps sailing toward us just over the horizon--are on their way to do battle with our Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.
            EGBOK can be a life preserver for those of us who feel shipwrecked, tossed about by the waves of dismay and life's disenchantments.
            It allows us to be able to look in the mirror in the morning and instead of seeing the dawn of another dark cloud growing larger in our lives, and say EGBOK to that thought.  It allows us to part the dark clouds and see the shafts of sunlight spearing down, reminding us that the Season of Terrorism passes into the Season of Vigilance, and that when we no longer seek the light the Beast has won.
              EGBOK cannot be overused.  Try it.  Say it over a few times.  Try a dozen times in a row.   The faster you say it, the more humorous the saying becomes, and, you begin to laugh.
            Laughter is one sure cure for Terrorism, for it reminds us that life is more about the good than the bad, more about enjoying than suffering.   

           Saying EGBOK can be an act of Courage.   It summons up from within us that strength to believe the day has a sunrise and sunset, and is not just a spider's web in which all parts of our bodies become snarled as we await the inevitable jaws of the spider to crunch us and suck out what little marrow is left.
            Saying EGBOK is also an act of Conviction that forces Intimidation into the back seat of our life.   Terrorism likes us to think we live in the shadows of life, that life's success is not ours.   It likes to darken our spirits and cause us to hang our heads in defeat, as though we have been bullied into submission and become slaves to the weight of the world.    EGBOK's Battle Cry breaks the bonds of Intimidation.   It shouts to the Beast that we seek the sunlight, and that we are willing to stand upon the shoulders of EGBOK itself to see the rainbows that await those of us who stick our heads out of the damp, dungy clouds and peer into life's true opportunities.
            Finally, EGBOK is a great gift for a child.   Parents and loved ones who teach little ones how to say EGBOK, and that it means Everything's Gonna Be Okay, are providing a child with a key to handling all the wrath the Beast of Terror can and will toss its way.
            It is fun to say EGBOK.   Children embrace the word, for it is cleverly phonetic.   It tells a child that Complacency--the giving up of beliefs that things can change--can be banished by a simple little fun word:  EGBOK!   It produces the Right Action for a child.  It provides a child with a "weapon" to stave off the Beast of Terror's effort to enslave it in Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.

         The child, learning how to use EGBOK, will learn to pass it on to others, including his or her children.    No matter what the problem or travails that rain down upon the child, in the back of the child's mind will ring the words EGBOK if the parents and guardians and loved ones who raised the child employ them in their lives.
           If you haven't, try using the words EGBOK to defuse tense situations in your life.   Use it at home and work, and when you're driving, or when you face both small and large challenges.
          Think of EGBOK as the Battle Cry of the Sentinels of Vigilance.
          And smile when you say it, for the smile belongs to Vigilance while the frown is the property of the Ants and Beasts of Terror.
          EGBOK your way through life.