ONE NATION UNDER GOD

 

With the United States approaching another birthday, (our 248^th) I got to thinking this line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which in its current form is only seventy years old. (More about this pledge’s history is here.)

 

“One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

 

The reality is that our nation is in fact more than one nation, if you subscribe to the notion of it being divided by many distinctive and legally sovereign states.

 

In reality, plenty of our nationals don’t see God’s presence at all.

 

Liberty is relative, with one percent of US citizens in prison, not all of them justly. The liberty of the rest is curtailed in many ways, not all of them wisely.

 

Justice: oh, dear. Justice, especially “for all,” is elusive. Not that other nations do better. But justice for all on this earth has yet to manifest here or anywhere.

 

And then it hit me: this pledge is less a statement of how it is. and more an aspiration of how it should be.

 

Let us wish it, and strive for it, and maybe get ever closer. I can pledge my allegiance to this as an aspiration, without reservation.

Happy Birthday USA

Johnny Tremain

As a way to celebrate the miracle that is our country, one encompassing much of the continent from sea to shining sea where, let’s face it, many wish to come to and few wish to flee from, may I recommend a classic book?

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, was the first historical novel written for young readers, and a Newbery medal winner. My kid-lit reading group read it some months ago, and saved me with this assignment from missing one of the best ways to appreciate the effort and enterprise that was the founding of the union of states.

I felt I was there, with Johnny, as his focus shifted from his personal struggles to be somebody in a world that did not bless him with privilege to the honor and privilege of fighting for something greater.

And the next time anyone says something about how divided our country is, let them situate themselves in colonial times, where many of the English king’s subjects in the Americas were not the least bit supportive of the colonial rebels.

Because what we have now is a vibrant, imperfect, but astonishingly successful nation, where disagreements are settled by a system of state-by-state voting.

That is something great, and worth celebrating.

Happy July Fourth and happy reading.