We have been trying to come up with a post for the last few days now. We have a lot to say on a whole host of subjects. But, some things we have noticed over the last few days points us to a new subject: America.
We, as a people, seem more divided now than ever before. The hate and ignorance and bigotry that is spewing from Americans is abhorrent. This country is in turmoil and has been for quite some time. We have obviously recovered from September 11th because we have reverted to our hating and hurting ways. We are turning our collective backs on each other. We are spreading blame wherever we can find a spot for it. We are hurling horrible and untruthful accusations at one another. We are in fight or flight mode…and we’re fighting the wrong fight.
One of the definitions for “American”, according to Merriam-Webster, is to be a “citizen of the United States”. There are a couple of other definitions but nowhere does it state that “American” means anything else other than being a resident here. But, the unofficial definition of being “American” is something quite different.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
I still believe in these words. I think they hold truer today than in any time in history. One glaring difference is that these words are now directed at those of us living here, not just in other countries. Today a lot of Americans are the ones that are now homeless and tempest-tossed. We are yearning to breathe free. Free from the fear and the hate and the dark times that lay ahead. The question then becomes “What do we do about it”?
We could choose to keep things as they are knowing, full well that, in time, we will come out of the other side and start to rebuild what is left. There might not be much remaining, but we will still pick up the pieces. We could continue to fight amongst each other, as we have been, and destroy this country and what it stands for. Or, we could choose to fight back. Not against the government or our fellow Americans but against something that we can’t even see. It’s a feeling. Perhaps it’s even a knowledge that something is out there that is hurting us. It’s causing us pain and anguish and fear. We can’t see or hear it, but it’s there. We are lighting our torches and grabbing our pitchforks but we are not pointing them in the right direction. Instead, we are pointing them at each other because we don’t know to whom or what they should be pointed.
Let me offer a new target. Our thinking. Or, perhaps better stated, our way of thinking. The 10 year anniversary of 9/11 brought about innumerable articles and stories about what we all remember from that day. The fear and the pain and the panic. The despair and the sadness. But we also felt something else. Something even stronger. We felt unity. Yes, we felt United.
Again, there were countless articles and TV spots with people talking about how much kinder people were being to one another after the September 11th. People were going out of their way to help someone in need, no matter who it was. Smiles and pleasantries were exchanged. Hands were shook. We banded together to stay strong. We banded together to survive.
We need to get back to that place. We need to keep that fire burning just as bright as it ever did. We need to lift our lamps beside the golden door. Because, if we fail to do so, it will continue to destroy everything that we hold dear. We are not asking for miracles. We are not asking for the impossible. We are only asking that we try to set aside our differences for a while. We are simply asking for everyone to be a little more compassionate to each other. To understand that these are hard times for everyone. Not just a select few, but almost every American is hurting right now in some form or fashion and we need to stand together, as one, to make it through this with the spirit of our great country intact.
Democrats and Republicans, the religious and atheists alike, people of every color, the rich and the poor. Our disputes don’t matter right now because, as we argue amongst ourselves, our country is falling apart. What matters is not our differences but our commonality. Our differences divide us. Our commonality Unites us.
“…one Nation…indivisible…”
