HAPPY INTERDEPENDENCE DAY
Despite our many flaws, I deeply love this country called The United States of America and on this day, I celebrate what is best about who we are as a nation. We have the freedom to celebrate our own faith, pursue interesting work, and offer dissent/speech in service of our values and vision. These freedoms of course, are not just platitudes but involve the hard messy work of turning ideology into real-world practices that honor all our citizens, not just those who have the power.
While this day is known to many as Independence Day, symbolizing our independence from oppressive forces overseas, I also acknowledge that it is impossible to be independent in our world today. We are all deeply connected through our environment, through our shared desired to thrive and flourish, and our beliefs in fairness and justice. To become truly interdependent, we must understand that our fates are deeply tied to the fates of those who are different than us. We must learn to practice in our daily lives, tolerance, empathy, and compassion while still valuing our distinct differences as gifts that make our country better. We must learn to practice a win-win game where we honor the abundance of communities so that all people can thrive and flourish in harmony with our natural world.
To this end, I wish you all a Happy Interdependence Day and promise to do my best to live into the principles and values that have made this country a beautiful place to live. I know I and we will continue to struggle with this promise as our current reality often feels daunting but I am still an optimist and have hope that I and we can do better, achieving so much together that we cannot accomplish alone.
LIFE REQUIRES LIFE
Life requires life to flourish;
Clean water, soil, and air.
Community and compassion.
Services that we cannot ration.
Health aware as well as health care.
Organizations with a heart,
Citizens that play their part.
Seeds of kindness planted deep,
Values that we always keep.
Fairness that is not rareness,
And justice that is truly just for all.
Warriors and defenders that answer the call.
Integrity in our political hall.
Yes, life requires life
So that we can grow to be our best.
Let us all dig a little deeper
So that we pass this current test.
