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American Comradery

America is on a journey, but the path taken is not one of successive steps, but a multitude of steps formed by the footprints of a heard of individuals often traveling in the same general direction, and at other times crisscrossing, or stopping, or moving backwards; often going in so many directions that the ground underfoot becomes a trampled and churned wasteland. In time the herd moves on, and if we wait new seeds will take root in the soils that have passed beneath our feet upon the soil which supported us. We rely upon the growth of the seeds left in our wake, because we will undoubtedly have to pass again where we have before, and when we do if we find a barren land it will not support us. Our mutual health, safety, and prosperity depends upon us working together to do the difficult work of finding solutions to complex problems, and even more difficult the simple task of living together day after day as neighbors with common interests and concerns. The ability to live peacefully and in cooperation with our neighbors and fellow citizens may seem like a simple task, but for many reasons that deal with human nature this may be one of the hardest things for people to do. We forget our commonality and allow our prejudice to place walls between ourselves where none are and none should be.
America has been built by many hands; some dirty, some clean, some free, some bound or enslaved. Our hands are often joined, or are withdrawn or withheld from each other. Our hands work to restore and build, and other times they work to destroy or hurt. These hands create, but what they create is a question every citizen should be accountable to answer for, each to ourselves as well as to each other. These hands are a community. They are hands come in a multitude of colors, from different faiths and philosophies. These hands act in love, and they act in hate, and at times in indifference or apathy. They are affluent hands, and they are hands which are also impoverished. These hands have an unwritten but understood duty to form a future, and they do this by either their action or their inaction, or both. “Now” is the only time these hands can exist in; each hand formed out of experiences of the past, each hand creating a legacy which forms our shared future. We are a nation of hands, and each one has a place in the patchwork that is the essence of our humanity.
The rapid pace in which we meet our future in demands that we learn how to use our hands, and our hearts, minds, and spirits to work together to form a future we can all prosper in safety and equity in. The labels we apply to each other must be set aside, and we must keep diligent, remembering that we share in this path we walk together. We can be a heard of individuals, each with the individual rights to Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness which we have pledged to each other by the virtue of our heritage, but to do this we must be mindful that our rights cease when we infringe upon the rights of another; and, moreover, are enhanced and secured when we work to insure these rights for our fellow beings. This also means that we defend these rights for others even when doing so is difficult, when doing so comes into conflict with our own personal beliefs, and when it comes at a cost.
To “love our neighbor” is an act in which we love ourselves, but the selfishness of acting in pure self-interest cannot itself produce the same positive results we ideally seek and is often self-destructive, because it is by insuring the security and welfare of all that we find and produce that desired state for ourselves. We have strength in community, and a little self-sacrifice and service to others and the greater good produces a foundation that provides us that very same support we desire or covet. Good deeds build good results and bad deeds bring bad results, and this with little exception is a constant we must be always mindful of. If we can raise ourselves up to meet this task, to walk this path, and to use our hands to create the “American Ideal”, we may attain a greatness the world has never hereunto known the like of. We have started down this path many times but we always seem to stop just a little short of the goal. In each attempt we create an ability to endure to these ends, which should be our shared goal. This being stated, it will be interesting to see what path we choose or take. Can we walk together in a spirit of tolerance and friendship in, and with comradery? The questions asked will only be answered with the passing of time. Our journey together begins anew with the dawn of each new day. What thing it is that our hands craft that will be seen as our legacy remains the most important question that we will, and must, answer collectively.