July 4th Weekend: Thankful

I am one of those cheesy people who gets teary eyed at the national anthem during every Olympic medal ceremony. I love all of the other old, beautiful, patriotic songs, too. I am proud of the ideals on which my country is founded, and I am grateful to the men and women through history who have worked for and fought for the preservation of those ideals. I am so LUCKY to have been born in a country and during a time that MY voice, a woman's voice, a mother's voice, a teacher's voice etc. can be heard along with all of the other voices which make up our representative democratic system.

I am not always proud of the ACTIONS of my country. Nor am I in favor of all of the battles that have been fought by the brave and dedicated men and women who stand above others in their service. As an American, I am lucky to be able to disagree. I can sit at a table with friends and family, who hold all different beliefs, and engage in debate where we can grow from understanding varying points of view. I do not take lightly the sacrifices that others make to ensure that my right to express myself is preserved.

One powerful lesson I have gained from this adoption process is the lesson of how to access and petition my representatives. What a privilege it is to have elected officials to whom I can express my beliefs. I feel like I have abused that privilege by never having used it before.

What frightens me is that this process has also taught me that abandoned, our democratic rights can be obscured, lost in red tape. I have been afraid to speak at times, for fear that Daniel would suffer for my speaking. I have felt as if my representatives, at times, were representing what Thoreau would call the government "machine" instead of me, their constituent. I do not feel that any person is deliberately trying to harm children. I believe that all involved are really trying to do their jobs, and well. All are trying to follow their consciences. However, not all voices are being heard. Daniel and I are not being heard. This is a larger lesson. Who is being served by many innately political processes? How does this problem of representation affect the indigent, the immigrant, the unemployed, the soldier, the student, the uninsured child? I want to be more vigilant about speaking, and I would encourage all to be more vigilant, because we likely disagree about some issues. Those varying viewpoints are what give our nation the balance necessary to maintain the democratic foundation which we typically take for granted.

Here are some excerpts from early American writers that are relevant to my current experience. These are important and timeless words. I am thankful to be an American.

from The Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

from the First Amendment of The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution
CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES.

from Abraham Lincoln's, “The Gettysburg Address”
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”