By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

Moses cuts across a few belief fences so maybe we can start with him. Abraham helps to huddle people momentarily too, but this is about real estate, not parenting skills. Do you ever wonder how we got into this pickle? Moses and his staff needed binoculars.

They failed to see the occupants in their promised land. But would they have cared?

Maybe Moses would have reconsidered his decision to lead and occupy. Do you think? That would have been an interesting discussion at the burning bush or on the mountain top. He seemed a strong character but not unreasonable. He listened intently, especially to guidance. He definitely had a free will. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, but once the tribes poured into the valleys, things got ugly with the existing residents.

Our own Manifest Destiny, post-Louisiana purchase, Lewis and Clark expedition vision of expansion needed binoculars too. The promised land had occupants. Things got tragic.

And today, both promised lands remain contested pieces of real estate. Peace in the Middle East hinges upon peace in Israel and the Palestinian State. It’s so hard because fundamentally, it’s hard to write. It’s a place we call different places depending upon our beliefs. We tend to use the hand-sweep-over-map technique.

And America’s properties have different names depending upon who you are, the tribe you claim, your ancestral links, the deed you hold, or the promise you've heard. Shawnee has meaning if your ancestors were.

The promises continue. The promise of prosperity, across the borderline. The biblical theme lives, not a theme to the modern travelers, but stark reality. We see it here, the exodus across our southern borders.

France has hopeful people entering their valleys every day. The city of Lagos Nigeria is a mega-city, land of promise and in China displaced workers and workers wishing placement move to the cities but find the promise is very empty, and the cities densely occupied.

But would binoculars really help? Would we stop and think before moving if we could clearly see the valley and the occupants before settling there? Do we think-through eviction plans today?

The evictions will occur today, right here in Kansas City. People will move. People will dream. People believe in promise. Moses knew that and so did his advisor.