For the longest time, I've always gotten mad at the words to the song God Bless America. To me, the song was a dark mockery of patriotism. The irony of it all was that upstanding Americans sing about the freedoms they have while freedom is stolen away in the very same night. Americans watch celebratory fireworks imitate the explosions of a war that blind them to War's real repercussions. Hence, the song pricked my heart with frustration and despair.
Not anymore.
I celebrated Independence Day on the 3rd of July in Lander, WY this year. I enjoyed a dance of actors, music, stories from the Founders and fireworks in the most comforting and hopeful 4th of July program I've ever seen. Listening to the voices of Jefferson, Adams, Washington and Wythe pressed upon me the depth of sacrifice that was made to give us the legacy of our country. Their voices pressed upon me the depth of sacrifice we must be prepared to give to keep it alive.
In the future, we may be poor. We may be cold. We may be hungry. We may weaken to despair. But we must be strong enough to make it through.
Even now in the luxury of comfort, that seems a hard task to ask. Our lives now seem like we are running down a road with only a cliffhanger ending. At some point, you will be flying through the air facing a harsh death. But despite one road, there are many endings to this thriller.
An artist will imagine many. You can die of a heart attack before you hit the ground. You can be sucked into the cliff and roll to a rocky death. You might put out your hand to grab the side and slide down slowly. Or you can spread your arms and fly…
It doesn’t matter when you start trying to fly. You might be rolling on the side of the cliff or just now jumping from the road. There are hundreds of possible tools you might be using. There are hundreds of possible endings for one cliff jumper. Some will be measured as failures. Some as successes. Others will remember to measure themselves against no one but their own better selves.
This is how we can be strong enough to make it through. Forget that! We will be invincible and undefeatable in our glorious lives. Our stories will be told for millennia. With the faith to create, Glory never dies.
I don’t know yet what sacrifices I will be asked to give. Maybe you do. Chances are you already have the tools to do the tasks that will be asked. Use them. Practice them. Create with them. In the coming years and coming days, the world will seem blacker than any night. Then, when there are none others, We will be the Stars.
T. PaineGeorge Wythe College mentors me...www.gwc.edu
Comanity funds me...www.comanity.com
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