It is Monday, July 4th, 2022.
My spirit is weary, as is that of many other Americans.
My faith again challenged.
It’s been another year of division and unsettling decisions for this country.
And now we have another mass shooting.
Many say they aren’t celebrating July 4th this year because we are on the wrong track. Going backwards.
I still celebrate today, if more quietly than in the past, because I love this country.
At its best, no country is greater.
It is not the country that is flawed.
It is the misguided humans we have placed in power that ignore the wishes of the people they were chosen to serve.
That’s on us.
This country was born on the ideal of freedom for all.
A nation born of the spirit and hard work of the beautiful and diverse faces of immigrants.
Somehow, we have strayed from that noble path that fights for the rights of all, not just a vocal few.
The year ahead will show us what we are really made of.
Do we really value freedom in the way we say we do?
Are we willing to get involved and help ensure we save our democracy?
Do we really understand just how precious that democracy is?
Do we even understand how democracy really works?
Are we willing to educate ourselves?
Instead of blindly following false prophets and mistruths?
Will we come together as a country to heal our deepest wounds?
Peacefully. With respect and regard for all.
To right the Mother Ship?
To give our children the brighter futures they deserve?
To care for one another, not just protect our own self interests and power?
A reminder on this day that stands for so much history—-
Freedom is never free.
It has been paid for with the blood and the lives of so many bolder and braver than most living today.
I wonder what past generations that fought for our freedoms would think of this moment in time.
Would they think their big sacrifices have been in vain?
Or would they expect us to meet this moment, as they did in their own lives?
I can’t speak for others.
Right now, I have many more questions than answers.
How will we answer this call in our time?
Will you stand up for what’s right?
Will you get involved where needed?
Will you vote?
How much do America’s freedoms mean to you?
Can you imagine living in a country that no longer has the rights we have come to enjoy?
We are in many ways a spoiled nation.
A spoiled people.
But we are today threatened with losing all we hold dear.
All that makes us truly great.
Unless we change course.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment in our history.
Again.
Our individual silence won’t stop the bleeding.
Will we meet today’s big challenge as our ancestors did theirs?
Giving us the priceless gifts of freedom?
Freedoms that we too often take for granted?
Or will we watch passively from the sidelines as all that is good about American withers and dies?
Who is willing to step up, for all the right and just reasons?
I am.
Are you?