231 years. That’s how we’ll be as a country in a couple of weeks. Makes me feel young, and I need that right now.
What’s more important is the awe of a country that can conduct a highly disputed election but still have a peaceful transfer of power. For that, we should thank God every night.
It doesn’t happen everywhere, or even in that many places.
Most people in the world kill each other over that kind of stuff.
And regularly do.
I think we must have a culturally embedded recognition of the folly and destruction of the Civil War. Our one experiment in that kind of hot-headedness played out very badly, and the scars of it can still be seen. Having grown up in the South (the real South), I’m acutely aware of it.
I know that it wasn't over when I was a kid in Tennessee, and don't know for sure that it is yet.
People couch old bigotry and old resentments in new language. The language may be new, but the ideas are the same. They cause the same hurt and divisions that they have for the last 140 years. And that's too long.
Still, I have hope and faith in the country that all of us share and that continues to change daily, and often vibrantly. Even little old Austin pulses with the heartbeats of languages I've never heard and don't even pretend to understand. If you get a cab here tonight, your driver may be from Africa or Southeast Asia or Guatamala.
I can get Chinese, Vietnamese, Salvadoran, Indian or any other kind of food without leaving our neighborhood. I can also get a bacon cheeseburger from Sonic, but I save that for Fridays. (One good sinful meal a week is good for the soul.)
Life's tapestry gets richer every day.
We are not the greatest country in the world because God blessed us. We’re the greatest country in the world because we have chosen to be, as a a people. I won't lose faith unless we lose sight of that. As a people.
God helps those that help themselves.
I’m not sure He’s real happy with us right now, but he’s a patient Father, just like my Daddy. At 231, we’re just coming in to our prime. He’ll wait, watch and be there to pick up the pieces.
Or at least make picking up the pieces a little easier.
Patience isn’t a virtue I’ve ever mastered. I keep meaning to ask Daddy how he ever did it. It still mystifies me.
The lack of it is probably my biggest fault, so I don’t really understand it completely.
Honestly, not at all.
For the sake of democracy, I’ll be patient. I’m learning it little by little and might even have it down the next time we have a constitutional crisis. Not that I want one.
Until then, I’ll just say “Happy Birthday”.
What’s more important is the awe of a country that can conduct a highly disputed election but still have a peaceful transfer of power. For that, we should thank God every night.
It doesn’t happen everywhere, or even in that many places.
Most people in the world kill each other over that kind of stuff.
And regularly do.
I think we must have a culturally embedded recognition of the folly and destruction of the Civil War. Our one experiment in that kind of hot-headedness played out very badly, and the scars of it can still be seen. Having grown up in the South (the real South), I’m acutely aware of it.
I know that it wasn't over when I was a kid in Tennessee, and don't know for sure that it is yet.
People couch old bigotry and old resentments in new language. The language may be new, but the ideas are the same. They cause the same hurt and divisions that they have for the last 140 years. And that's too long.
Still, I have hope and faith in the country that all of us share and that continues to change daily, and often vibrantly. Even little old Austin pulses with the heartbeats of languages I've never heard and don't even pretend to understand. If you get a cab here tonight, your driver may be from Africa or Southeast Asia or Guatamala.
I can get Chinese, Vietnamese, Salvadoran, Indian or any other kind of food without leaving our neighborhood. I can also get a bacon cheeseburger from Sonic, but I save that for Fridays. (One good sinful meal a week is good for the soul.)
Life's tapestry gets richer every day.
We are not the greatest country in the world because God blessed us. We’re the greatest country in the world because we have chosen to be, as a a people. I won't lose faith unless we lose sight of that. As a people.
God helps those that help themselves.
I’m not sure He’s real happy with us right now, but he’s a patient Father, just like my Daddy. At 231, we’re just coming in to our prime. He’ll wait, watch and be there to pick up the pieces.
Or at least make picking up the pieces a little easier.
Patience isn’t a virtue I’ve ever mastered. I keep meaning to ask Daddy how he ever did it. It still mystifies me.
The lack of it is probably my biggest fault, so I don’t really understand it completely.
Honestly, not at all.
For the sake of democracy, I’ll be patient. I’m learning it little by little and might even have it down the next time we have a constitutional crisis. Not that I want one.
Until then, I’ll just say “Happy Birthday”.
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