What I’m Thankful for on July 4

On this Fourth of July, I’m thankful for many things.

I am thankful that the Founders had the humiltiy to recognize that they were working to create a “more perfect union“ and not a “perfect union.”

I am thankful for everyone who has served, fought, and given their life to make this country what it is today.

I am thankful that the Founders had the wisdom and insight to build separation of powers into the structure of our government, so that our nation could remain a republic “for the people, and by the people.”

I’m thankful to live in a nation where a person’s life trajectory is not set in stone from birth.

I am thankful that I get to practice my beliefs and worship God without fear of punishment, loss of property, or death.

There are many places in this wide world that I’d like to visit, but there’s no place that I would ever consider moving to and living and for the rest of my life.

I understand that our nation is not perfect, and it never will be. That is why we aim to be a more perfect union. That is what we aspire to be. Aspirations are not destinations. They require blood sweat and tears. There are many people who have lived before me and poured their lives into making the United States the land of the brave have a home of the free.

I recognize that there are many people who disagree with me. I respect those disagreements, and I would like to point out that the ability to disagree and discourse is one of the great privileges of our nation.

I also recognize that there are many people who would like to enumerate a list of national sins and wrongdoings as if to say that is the whole truth about the United States.

To that I would ask, is a person measured by their failures, or by what they do in light of those failures? Do any of us truly believe that there can be no repentance or forgiveness for wrongdoing? Consistently and repeatedly pointing out the flaws of our nation without recognizing the good is like telling the crack addict who’s trying to turn his life around that he’s always going to be a crack addict because he smoked crack once upon a time. We don’t berate individuals—no matter how imperfect—with the same severity with which many folks berate our nation.

If we lived in a monarchy or a dictatorship, this sort of woebegone talk could be understood and perhaps excused. But we live in a nation where everyone truly has a part to play. John F. Kennedy famously said “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” If ever I find myself complaining about the United States, it’s likely that I’m looking to be served instead of rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.

So this day, as I think about we are a nation came from, I am thankful for the opportunity to play my part in building the Founder’s vision that more perfect union.