4th of July

Last week, I wished you a week of reflection on how you are living your life through these three areas: humility, hunger, and hustle. I hope you took time to reflect on these three, and you had a chance to examine where they fit in your life.

July 4^th. Independence Day. Do you know the year we became a country? Do you know how many senators are in Congress? Do you know the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? How many branches of government do we have? What is the job of each of the branches? These are only a few questions someone taking the test for citizenship to the USA will have to answer.

I found it difficult to listen to one of the newsmen last night asking young people on a college campus a variety of questions that are on that citizenship test. It was embarrassing to realize that a simple question of when we became a country couldn’t be answered by the majority of those interviewed. Their answers weren’t even close except one woman who did know. Then there was the question of how many total senators are in Congress. Once again nothing even close except for the same woman who answered the previous question correctly. There were four or five more questions and except for the one woman the others had no clue. Really? These are college students. How can that be?

I know when I was teaching fifth grade part of our social studies curriculum was government and learning about our country. I also know that government was part of the curriculum in middle school and all sophomores in high school had to take a government class in order to graduate. Is that not the case any longer? To me, it’s embarrassing and sad that American born citizens do not know the basics of their own government and the history behind their own country. In my opinion, that’s not just the responsibility of the school system but it should also be a parental responsibility to educate our children on this great country.

This is not an issue of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or any other category. This is purely learning about and understanding the country that we live in and the freedoms that we do possess. In my opinion, there is no reason for ignorance. You may not agree with everything, but the fact that you have the freedoms that you have today are because our fore fathers had a vision and dream. This year we celebrate 241 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed.  

My grandchildren have been taught to take off their hat, stop, and put their hand over their heart whenever they hear the Star Spangled Banner. AND they actually know the words to the anthem. These are children who are 3-11. In the small towns, you will see flags hung outside almost every home and along the streets. Business fronts are decorated as well. People are proudly wearing red, white, and blue and the little one’s know that July 4^th is America’s birthday. There is a sense of pride and that pride is evident. 

I “get it” that many people only want to point to all the wrong that is part of our country’s history, I “get it” that there are issues that need to be addressed, and I “get it” that we don’t all agree.

What I don’t get is why there isn’t more focus on all that IS right and IS good about this country. (If you’ve ever lived in a foreign country you have more of a comparison.) What I don’t get is the violence and destruction that is NOT a part of freedom of speech. What I don’t get is the violence and shouting down speakers who have been invited to a campus by a campus organization. What I don’t get is taking flags from graves and putting them in a garbage bin. What I don’t get is a “Woman’s March” that didn’t accept pro-choice women.

I am also appalled at the dialog that we hear from our leaders. I denounce the name calling that President Trump will engage in at times. I find his other tweets to be informative. Why is it, however, that we are not just as enraged with the personal attacks, name calling, and plays depicting our President being assassinated all in the name of freedom of speech? Why is it not an outrage with ANY name calling and  ANY personal attacks no matter who it is and who is talking especially those in the media?

I hope that you are using this holiday to enjoy your family and friends, to eat good food, have a social time with true conversations, and take time to oooh and ahhh watching all the fireworks.  Let's use this holiday to pause, think about all the gifts we do have because we do live in the greatest country in the world, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Happy 4^th of July