The Perpetual Challenge
of American citizenship...
“Liberty is the breath of life to nations.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
My recent spring cleaning efforts uncovered a newspaper article that my mother saved for me. In 1987, when I was a senior in high school, I won first place in the local Voice of Democracy contest.
As I read over the essay, I was struck with how pertinent, even 37 years later, the ideas were.
Sadly, our country is more divided than ever. But as you read this essay, think about how this message fits into today’s world…I think you will be as surprised as I was…
The Challenge of American Citizenship by Sheila Connors
“An adventurous astronaut seeks new discoveries in a vast region of space. A determined English teacher educates high school students in the center of New York City. A brave soldier fights for his country in a foreign land. A passive leader attempts to promote peace.
These Americans, and millions more like them across our nation, have accepted one of the greatest challenges of life; to sacrifice their time, their talents and even their lives, to fulfill a dream, to enrich mankind. They have accepted the challenge of citizenship.
Citizenship: a privilege to some; a born right to others. During the past 210 years, millions of immigrants have stepped onto American shores. Among them have come laborers, politicians, farmers, scientists, soldiers…All facing the challenge of adjusting to a new homeland, a new lifestyle and a new goal. But they came with a dream. The dream of being free to make a better life, not only for themselves but for everyone. Into their dream, they poured the diversity of their cultures and when the dream became reality, they stood in awe of their creation; a nation called America.
So, I am an American. By the grace of a benevolent God or by the accident of fate, I am an American. As an American, I enjoy all the privileges granted by our constitution written many years ago by descendants of these original dreamers. Our Constitutional rights grant us more freedoms than are enjoyed by any other society in the world.
We can read what we want and not be censored. We can express our religious faith without being persecuted. We can move about freely within our country. We can seek justice for our grievances. We can speak openly and freely.
Recently, we experienced an election in which all candidates expressed their opinions without fear of reprisal. The right to speak so candidly exists in very few nations. Our election campaigns are, in a way, a celebration of our right to speak as we will. I am using that same privilege now as I celebrate our freedoms and urge that we extend our concept of local community beyond its present narrow limits.
That we strive to understand our more distant neighbors, recognizing and respecting those of different races, religions and political views and accepting the right for others to believe or not to believe theologies and philosophies that may be different for our own.
That we acknowledge the plight of the unemployed and dispossessed is ultimately linked to our ability to succeed and prosper. That suffering anywhere is suffering everywhere.
To me, the challenge of citizenship is depicted as all citizens working together and attempting to make our country and our world a better and safer place to live.
If people do not work together for the good of all, this would not be a united nation but an assortment of individuals whose only goal would be to satisfy their own needs and pleasures. We must come together and be united in order not only to help ourselves achieve the most we can, but also to help all people to become the best they can be. When Benjamin Franklin, long ago warned, “United we stand, divided we fall,” little did his followers realize that he had issued the perpetual challenge of American citizenship.
Let us accept that challenge. Let the dream live on in all of us, citizens of America.”
What do you think?
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Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:
This week’s Smile video…
As Americans kick off the unofficial start of summer, Steve Hartman goes "On the Road" to prove it's never too late to revisit your inner child..
#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove
And that’s a good thing…
Memorial Day weekend seems like a good time to share these videos of Mr. Rogers. He had a special way of connecting to people of all ages. In the second video he reminds us to stop and take 10 seconds to focus on all of the people who have helped you to get where you are today…such a cool reminder of our blessings…and that’s a good thing…
What I am reading…
This week I picked up my copy of Flags of My Fathers by James Bradley and revisited one of my all-time favorite books. I love everything about it and it is a perfect reminder of the bravery and sacrifice “the greatest generation” gave us.
The Amazon description is as follows: “In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island’s highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag.
Now the son of one of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever.
To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men’s paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific’s most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is what happened after the victory. The men in the photo—three were killed during the battle—were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley’s father truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: “The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn’t come back.”
Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.”
Time to relax…
Looking for a relaxing background on your television? Calm Classical Piano presents interpretations of classical songs on the piano, with the purpose of helping in moments when we need to calm down and pacify ourselves. Enjoy!
Comedy Lift…
I love to share funny cartoons or memes with friends and family. Who doesn’t need to smile? Here’s this week’s Comedy Lift…
Music Moments
Music inspires me in many ways. Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra is so upbeat and a fun song to dance to… and I love it....Enjoy!
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….
Perfect! Thank you 😊! I want to do a cross-post. Are you interested?