I used to be proud to be an American. People teased me, "you bleed red, white, and blue." I was honored to live in the land of the free, because of the brave. These days, I just bleed more sad. I'm still proud of the brave, and thankful everyday that they continue to protect what's left. But, sometimes I wonder what we are fighting for any more.
Ten years ago, the unthinkable happened. Our beloved country was attacked. Heroes were born in the air, on the ground, in the towers, the pentagon, across the nation. Ordinary people did the unthinkable. They came together as one. People who didn't know each other, turned TO each other for love and support. Whether that meant letting a someone you didn’t know use your phone to call a loved one, or bringing a hot cup of coffee to a search and rescue member who'd been working for 12 hours straight, if you sang for our heroes, prayed for them, watched over them, held their hand while they wept, donated blood, transported people to places they needed to get, offered a bed to a brother or sister, or assisted a complete stranger out of harms way. Without hesitation. Unconditional Love.
On 9/11/01, and the days that followed, people saw people for who they were. Just another human being trying to find their way in this crazy world. They love, they live, they hurt, and like you and me, they are just trying to figure out who they are and where they are going. For a period of time, we stood together as one. Not as the Democrats and the Republicans. Not as the rich and the poor. Not as the African Americans and the whites. Not as the homosexuals and the heterosexuals. Not as the young and the old. We stood together, only as Americans.
On 9/11 every American gained 300 million brothers and sisters. Most of whom they would never meet, never know personally. But, all were connected by a shared circumstance; one that had American’s willing to fight the fight of someone they had never met. From sea to shining sea.
Every American proudly displayed Old Glory, vowed revenge on the enemies who brought the war to their homeland, and adopted the motto United We Stand, Divided We Fall. We stood up, wiped the dirt from our eyes, and asked the question, "What can I do?"
In some sad, ironic twist, Americans found peace among themselves that day amidst all the tragedy.
And, today. Ten years later, many of us our left wondering, what happened? A motto we lived and breathed, has faded with our memories. A country once united, is quickly falling, divided. It's more common to hear, "What can you do for me?" than "What can I do for you?"
Our politicians that we have elected to represent us have adopted the 'if it ain't in my best interest, it ain't worth my time." And, we have let them.
Our politicians, fueled by greed and selfish interests have pitted Americans against Americans. We have forgotten that we are in this together. And, it doesn't matter who you are. Money, religion, race, age, sexual orientation; they don’t determine your worth. They don’t determine what rights you deserve. They don’t decide who will be heard, and who will not be.
....and yet, here we are.
Our politicians are only interested in doing something that benefits them; fixing something only when it’s obstructs their personal gain. They'd rather cut our children's education, our earth’s resources, our poor and elderly’s care, our veteran’s and heroes benefits, children's protective programs, our working and middle class's paychecks....than taking money from big oil, their own pockets, or having the wealthy pay their share.
They are taking away our rights. Putting their nose where it doesn't belong. Telling us what is right and wrong. Taking our right to an education away. Taking our futures. Taking our children's futures. They are making a mockery of our checks and balances, our Constitution, and our Founding Fathers principles. They are silencing our voice and putting a price tag on it. They taking power, and we are losing control. They have taken OUR American Dream, and mangled it.
Then they are sending our men and women overseas to stop leaders in foreign lands from doing all of the above to their own people. They are asking them to fight and die to stop these country’s citizens from being oppressed by their leaders-all the while we, as Americans, have begun a similar battle against the same heartless, self serving kind of people.
Proud isn't the word I'd use anymore. And, I've realized. It's not my Country that is disappointing me.
An excerpt from An Ode To America written by Cornel Nistorescu on September 24, 2001 in a Romanian Newspaper.
What unites Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases that risked sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion: Only freedom can work such miracles.
Now, I write this with tears streaming down my face. Americans did the unthinkable. And, now, we are doing the predictable.
A great man once said, America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. -Abraham Lincoln
So, it appears we are at a crossroads. One that has my heart breaking and my soul screaming; one that has me feeling helpless and broken.
The question is: Where will you be standing? For yourself? Or, for your Country? What will it take for you to remember the feeling that day as you watched someone from the outside bring OUR great Country to her knees, and inflict pain on your brothers and sisters? What will it take to feel that anger you felt when you watched those planes fly into the towers, the pentagon, the fields; taking your brothers and sisters lives? And, the lives that have been sacrificed since? What will it take for you to find the strength you felt after 9/11...the strength and courage to love everyone unconditionally? To give your heart and soul to another human being, just to take their pain away. Just to let them know you care. What will it take for you to feel that empathy you felt for every single American when you realized-we are all in the same boat? What will it take for you to take the same offense to someone, other Americans, bringing pain to your brothers and sisters? What will it take for you to step up and say, I’ve got this fight for you?
What will it take? And, where will you stand?
I know where I'll be. I never left.
I know that there is beauty in the soul of every single person in this Country. And, I’m going to find it
...and, the flag was still there.
