America For Purchase

Heading into this holiday season of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, it may do us some good to pause and consider the events of 2009, while at the same time, acknowledging our common purpose in pursuing Peace and Hope.

There is so much that separates us in America today, there is too much. We are right and left, we are Red and Blue; conservative and liberal. We are Republican and Democrat. We are different creeds, cultures, races and religions. We dress differently, talk differently, and live differently, love differently. We are straight, we are gay, we are rich, and we are poor. We are healthy and we are sick and disabled. We are Christian, Muslin, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist and Agnostic.  We celebrate differently, mourn differently, and value differently. We are stoic, we are emotional, we are angry.  We are diverse, White, Black, Asian, Hindu, Indian, Hispanic, a potpourri of people whose heritages most all began in foreign lands.  We are all immigrants.We contend with teabaggers, politicians, anarchists, religious zealots, hate groups and people that would divide us.  We have a government that seems to have no conscience and a financial system that excludes the masses and rewards only the rich. We spend so much time and energy worrying about what we think matters, our differences, and we rarely stop to realize how much we have in common.

I realize we celebrate the promise of hope and peace in a country of uneven opportunity and unequal distribution of wealth and goods.  There are those who cannot afford to go out to eat, there are those in line at food pantries.  There are those who wish to live in a better neighborhood and there are those who have no place to call home, the homeless. There are some that enjoy plenty while others starve. Some Americans have access to unbelievable wealth while others live in abject poverty.  Some live in comfort and security while others cringe in fear for their lives from day to day. Many are employed, many are not. There are gay people thrown out of families due to ignorance but there are those who receive unconditional love and support.  There are military veterans and their families dealing with unspeakable loss, yet support the cause they represent.

It is not hard to be cynical when we see the cultural and political landscape collapse around us and we see so many in such pain. But remember that the unreported side is the inherent goodness that also can lie in the hearts of many. I believe there is goodness that resides somewhere, in all of us.  There are random acts of kindness that happen every day but go unreported. They not only matter; they should matter more to us than they do. They cut to the heart of what we can be in this country. They are what are at the center of the hope and peace which we must grasp for as a daily pursuit.

The divisions that separate Americans are important, but they are less important than our families, our loved ones, our friends.  Those divisions that separate us today will be long gone tomorrow.  Even when we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, we know, in time, we will see that light. Whether we admit it or not, we all have a desire to love and be loved. Even those of us who consider ourselves damaged or calloused.

Let us reach out to others during the fading of this year. Love someone; focus on what is truly important and personal. Think about what we have and be thankful. Hold on to the inherit goodness of Americans, embrace peace and hope, tell those important to you that you love them.

Let us make a choice to embrace peace and hope.

Americans were not born to hate, we were not born to recognize others differently.  We were born in perfect harmony, innocent, trusting, loving and caring.

In 2010, let us commit in the new year to believe there is liberty, justice and freedom for all citizens of these United States; to ensure the rights, freedoms and privileges for all Americans which our brave military fights; whether Asian, Black, Hispanic, Straight, Gay, Handicapped, Jew, Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Agnostic, and that no American should be excluded from the freedoms and liberties our forefathers wrote in the Constitution.  Let us understand that no citizen of this great country should feel less than any other citizen, no one should have to take a seat at the back of the bus.

Let us join together and encourage our democratically elected and our religious leaders to extinguish the flames of fear and hate to ensure the American Dream and equal rights are enjoyed by all Americans.

Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, sons, daughters, should remind those who teach hate is a burden we cannot bear. It is no longer honorable to hate and judge others, it is not possible to preach hate, discrimination, and love at the same time.

Let each of us remember there is a common bond that unites us as human beings across different beliefs, cultures and nationalities, races, sexual orientation and religion. This should be at the core of our convictions, the essence of America’s spirit and the heart of all faiths; working together for a common purpose.

Let this generation renew our support to better serve our shared values and fulfill the hopes and dreams of the day all our soldiers will return home.  In our families, workplaces and places of worship, let us celebrate men and women of integrity who work hard, treat people fairly, take responsibility and look out for others.  If these are the principles we live by in our families and neighborhoods, they should also be the principles that guide and govern our society.

Hope is what motivates Americans; to do better, to plan for a better tomorrow for our families and friends, for our nation.  The opposite of hope is not uncertainty, but despair.  The opposite of love is not hate, but fear.  The opposite of faith is fear, not disbelief.

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. Hope is how we find our way home, through the remains of a flailing government and corporate greed. Hope is the promise of a future Americans can believe in, in every state, red or blue; from the east to the west and north to the south.  Hope does not judge a person by the color of his skin, the money in their bank, the job they hold.   Hope is color blind, the audacity of hoping is for all Americans, great or small, rich or poor, gay or straight, religious or not, Democrat or Republican.  Hope cannot be bought by the government, by religion, big corporations or Wall Street.  It is an innate belief that we are all in this together and we can make a difference if we so choose.

Written in the Gospel of Luke lends itself to reaching out to the underprivileged, to those on the lowest rungs of society, and even to those of uneven opportunity and distribution and yet it is a message of hope that does not discriminate, it is equal for all Americans and to the world.  It is the message of Peace and Hope. .

May you and yours be blessed with prosperity, hope and peace this Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa season.

Filed under: Hope in America