We celebrate the birth of our great nation tomorrow. As we take a day off from our labors and burn a few things on the grill, we should all take a moment to remember just how lucky we truly are.
Somehow it’s become normal to only talk about how different we are. We’ve been taught to hate anyone who doesn’t agree with our individual points of view.
The news does nothing but feed this anger. You can’t turn on a TV without hearing how politicians have politicized things that have no place in politics like medicine or the law.
We all think about the implications on the future. We realize that once you let those horses out of the barn, you’ll never get them back in.
The major political parties do nothing but attack each other. They’re daily actions prove that they’re only interested in getting re-elected. Somehow the concept of governing is irrelevant.
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hatred of America and what she’s become. But this is only true until you go somewhere else.
This year, my wife Julie and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We decided to go to Wittenberg in Germany to renew our wedding vows.
We were able to hold the ceremony at the Corpus Christi Chapel next to St. Mary’s Church in Lutherstadt where Martin Luther did many of his weddings during the birth of the Reformation. To say that it was one of those moving moments in your life that will never be forgotten is an understatement.
I hadn’t been to Germany for 40 years, and the people I found were different than I’d remembered. The last time that I’d gone, the Berlin Wall was about to fall and West Germany was yet to be reunited with the East.
Germans still had the open wounds from the Big One. Though they still have those wounds, one thing was entirely different. Everywhere I went, whether it was touring the Castles on the Rhine or enjoying the beauty of Museum Island in Berlin, I saw one thing.
Native Germans in American clothing listening to our music from the 80’s.
I’d never seen so many Levi’s blue jeans, Ralph Loren shirts, or Converse All Star sneakers. The myriad of t-shirts advertising American Companies boggled the imagination.
Everywhere I went, there was our music from the 80’s. Even in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a violinist played Sade. It felt like I was back in high school.
Germans are a traditionally stoic crowd until you get into a conversation and tell them that you’re an American. Their eyes light up like a Christmas Tree and the questions don’t stop.
“Where are you from?”
“What do you do?”
“What’s it like to live in America?” The questions are endless.
We spent a few days in Koblenz which is where the Mosel River joins the Rhine. At the intersection, they have a promontory named the Deutsches Eck. Germans say that this is the one place in their country where they feel the most national pride. It would be like any of us going to D.C. to stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial or tour the White House.
Our last day in Koblenz, they had a wine and music festival on the promontory that we attended. While there we got into a conversation with a few kids in their twenties who were all decked out in American Regalia.
I asked, “Why are all of you wearing those American Clothes?” Their answers were immediate.
“Because America is so cool. We can’t wait to go. Someday we all hope to move there.”
I asked,” Why?” And they all tripped over themselves with basically one answer…
The American Dream.
We were standing on the most sacred place in all of Germany, and these kids only wanted to be here having what we all enjoy. In that one moment, something dawned on me.
It seems like everyone wants to be an American except Americans.
Take a moment and think about that. Maybe it’s time for us to have a cup that’s half full rather than half empty.
Spend some time tomorrow realizing how lucky you are to live in a place like this. Remember the sacrifices that were made by our forefathers for us to live in the most successful democracy to ever grace this big blue marble.
Think about the things that unite us rather than divide us. Take a moment and realize that just because people disagree with your views or your politics, doesn’t make them the enemy. It makes them Americans.
America’s strength is in her diversity, And in the end, the only thing we actually have is each other.
Take a moment enjoying the American Dream, then get those burgers and brats off of the grill before they become charcoal.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
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