It baffles, confounds, and deeply saddens me to hear
Americans denigrate our nation. I cannot comprehend; I cannot begin to fathom
how any native born, or naturalized American citizen is not able, or not
willing, to see this nation for the exceptional idea and nation that it is, and
always has been. I think that President Ronald Reagan said it best in his
inaugural address: “If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we
achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here in
this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater
extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the
individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on
Earth.” It is that very individual freedom and dignity that sets this nation
apart from every other nation in the history of the world and is the bedrock
foundation of American Exceptionalism.
My personal concept of myself is deeply intertwined with the
concept of America. I am a Christian, American man. My identity as an American
even comes before my identity as a man. So much of what I think, so much of
what I’ve done with my life are BECAUSE I am an American and have the
guaranteed freedom and human dignity personified by being an American.
In my view, my family is America, and America is my family.
The history of my family is deeply entwined with the history of my beloved
country. The first of my father’s father’s family were in New York before the
1700 census. They came to this country from France for religious freedom. The
first of my father’s mother’s family was an early master shipbuilder in
colonial New England who arrived in 1629 and built the first vessels in Salem
and Medford, Massachusetts. He came for economic opportunity.
The first of my mother’s father’s family came to America in
1750 to escape the horrific.
anti-Semitic violence in Russia; he came for religious freedom. The first of my
mother’s mother’s family settled on land granted to them in Pennsylvania by William
Penn. They too came to America in search of religious freedom and economic
opportunity. I feel the roots of my being going into the very beginnings of
this, my beloved country. I am America – America is me. We are the same.
Several of my mother’s sisters were in the Daughters of the
American Revolution. At least 1 of my ancestors fought for American
independence. My father’s family split
at that time, with some of them going to Canada because the English crown had
given them sanctuary when they first escaped from France, and some stayed in
America. (The Curse of Cain; but that is a story for another time.) My mother’s
grandfather fought at Gettysburg in the American Civil War. My father’s uncle
died in the Great War in 1918. My father’s brother crewed on B-17s with the 8th
Air Force in England in World War II and served in Korea. My cousin was a
submariner in the Vietnam Era. His son is a major in the Army Special Forces. My
own younger son stands on the wall with Customs and Border Patrol. American
history runs in my veins like blood; though I may be a lesser son of greater
sires, my love of this country burns as hot and bright as that of any of these
great and valiant warriors.
America sheltered and nurtured my mother as she grew 3
children in her womb. America gave my father opportunities to feed, clothe, and
house his family. America gave me the individual liberty to live out my dreams.
She gave me the opportunities to try, no matter how often I tried and failed.
She is my Motherland. She has fed and nurtured my hopes and
dreams for nearly ¾ of a century now. She has rocked me to sleep in countless
places across the length and breadth of the continent.
America is my Fatherland. America has sheltered and
protected me. America taught me values and gave me a code to live by – just as
my natural father did.
America is my home. I can travel anywhere in this country
and be at home. Americans are my family; I can be anyplace and feel at home. I
can go anywhere and feel safe. Home, family, Mother, Father, and refuge –
America is all these things to me.
Again, to quote President Reagan, “America is the last, best
hope of man on Earth."
Are we always President Reagan’s "shining city on a
hill"? No, we have fallen short throughout our history, but the American
Ideal remains “the last, best hope of man on Earth." Yet even with our shortcomings,
millions of people around the world risk everything to come here for freedom,
opportunities, and the chance to create a new life.
Each new generation must re-envision President Reagan’s "shining
city on a hill," while holding firm to the fundamental founding principles
as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,
preserving the “freedom and the dignity of the individual” while fostering and
expanding the creative “energy and individual genius of man.”
No structure, no organization, no building, no nation can be
built without a solid foundation. Tomorrow’s American "shining city on a
hill" must be built on the rock-solid foundation of the great ideals outlined
in our founding documents. If it is not, there will be no great future, no
continuation of America’s great past.
I look forward to this weekend’s celebration of the 250th
anniversary of this country. May God continue to bless this country. And may we
always be a nation worthy of God’s blessings.
