236. Hope in America

 

I started this aspect of my blog—a list of things about America that I love—out of anguish over what was happening, the seeming rending of the fabric of our being so that we don’t even recognize each other anymore. It’s helped me realize even more how much I love my country and the great hope that Americans have for this nation of ours in spite of our sometimes irrational fears of what is happening or might happen to it. Sometimes when you are opposed to someone’s way of thinking you equate them to something evil and you want to eradicate that evil. That’s what has been happening with us from the foundation of our country. My hope, and the great hope of all Americans, is that we as a people get to the place where we live in harmony.

I am a firm believer in debate and finding common ground through that negotiation process. I believe that seeming polar opposites can find respite in the equators of our united existence so that we no longer inhabit long periods of darkness and long periods of light. America has a dark tumultuous existence, not because of our past but because of our humanity. But we have always had to reckon with our selves and, whether we like it or not, look at who we are and the ideals we hold. They have never matched, yet we strive to make that happen, to truly deliver “liberty and justice to all.” We believe—I believe—that we can achieve that goal. Just what liberty and justice are, just what our inalienable rights are as human beings, still has to be wrestled with every day. But Americans wrestle diligently and arduously with those ideas. Of course, we fail with it when it comes to racism, but we continue to wrestle it out. #Blacklivesmatter #Alllivesmatter And are those oppositional statements? Is one good and the other bad? Or are they both good and bad because they come from human anguish? Can we reconcile them? Let’s hope we can. Let’s try. Yes, I get despondent about my country but then I see the hope that we all strive for and I truly love it.