Dear Readers,
First, thank you so much for making it through to July with me. It has been a busy and eventful year for us, and the world has been equally eventful and busy.
I'm writing this week to speak with each of you about this time of year. It's funny to me how, at Christmas, we get very reflective about wishing that we could all be a little more thoughtful, generous of spirit, focused on gathering and spending time with friends and family the whole year. For me, although I think these are admirable sentiments, I would rather we spread the cheer of Independence Day throughout the whole year.
There are two aspects of the inheritance bequeathed to us by the previous generations back to our founders that are worth acknowledging. The first one is to be appreciative of what we have, but the other is to make sure that inheritance lasts for future generations. It isn't enough to take advantage of our freedoms, we have to work to ensure our children and grandchildren get to keep them.
I know that it sounds preachy, but I always feel uplifted by the idea that we have, despite all the challenges we have faced in our nation's history, made it this far. We have conquered both the existential domestic threats and have faced down enemies far larger than the mad Hanoverian king. It hasn't always been an easy or clearly lit path to get here, but we did it. I don't need to list those threats, because as Americans we know what they are.
Each generation, it seems, has its own crisis to manage and ours turns out to be a crisis that threatens the very heart of our nation from within. Make no mistake, it threatens all of us, no matter which party we adhere to or how we worship, or the color of our skin or ethnic heritage. Once unleashed, like all tyrannies, it will quickly take away our rights and put mad rules in place to remove our dearly bought freedoms, morphing this land of liberty into a gulag.
At this time of year, I want to encourage us to remember the other threats to liberty that we have defeated, whether those based on the divine right of kings, or the lunatic assumption that all humans are not equal, or the looming shadows of fascism, racism, totalitarianism, or whatever this current threat happens to be named by history, we always manage to do the right thing. It takes us a while sometimes, as Churchill implied, but we do get it right eventually. We can only win through, if we remember what it means to be an American, not just for ourselves, but for everyone who calls this nation home.
So, as the flags get hung and we break out the red, white and blue decorations and attend barbecues and baseball.games, watch fireworks and splash about in the pool or the ocean, I want to encourage myself and you, dear readers, that we have faced worse and we have managed to survive. Conjure in your mind those conflicts both martial and intellectual and know that, like before, the only way we get through is by standing together in solidarity and fighting for what America really stands for.
That means voting when the time comes, but also talking to people kindly and respectfully across ideological lines. Now is a time of universal national pride, so let's use it to refresh our sense of what really matters: it is not politics or party adherence; it is unity and acceptance.
That is the note I wish to send to you, this week. Please remember, however you vote, worship, participate in this great national experiment, we got this far by fighting for the country we love despite our personal differences, not by losing hope when threats challenge our very existence. Together, we stand, and make America reach her full potential as a place that welcomes and protects. When needed, she is a land populated with fearless people who love her and will defend what she stands for.
Happy 4th! Let Freedom Ring in each of our hearts and may those piercing tones burn away the corruption, the hatred, the foolishness of politics and greed in the crucible of our mutual love and respect for our land.
Have a great weekend!
Dave
