Flags, Patriots, and a Dedication to Peace

I think many more Americans are considering what it means to be a citizen and a patriot this year than in years past. What does it mean to be an American? What is America? And how do we contribute? What do you have to offer your country?

It’s a shame we weren’t reflecting harder on this earlier. But here we are.

Happy Fourth of July. This is our home. We’re working to make certain that you are so welcome here.  I know it doesn’t seem that way… and we’ve started too late. But we are working. We haven’t, as we like to say here in PA, redded up as well as we might, but we’re working on it… promise.

All of us are needed to make Peace a reality.

 

American Peacemakers: Homegrown

For many reasons, over the Fourth, I’ve been thinking about citizenship and being an American.

It’s easy to be disgusted with the status quo… but somehow that separates us from the way things became entrenched. We’re probably part of the problem — and hopefully we’ll choose to be part of the solution.

It’s easy to feel isolated. It’s seductive. But it can be a drug that immobilizes us.

It’s good to work with other people. But until we find our tribe, we need to do the work that carries us forward. But so easy to disdain those who think differently than we do.

We’ve got to find the common ground.

And to do that we’ve got to understand what we believe and commit to loving this country of ours — loving it enough to do the work to change it.

So, on the fifth of July comes the invitation to become a better American and a better you. I will try, too… May I become an American Peacemaker…

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