By Rev, Amari Magdalena
Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is in the second paragraph of the first article in the Declaration of Independence. The great American promise. Absolutely a promise worth embracing in our dream of the greater good. Yet, and there it is the proverbial, yet, we as a nation are not very happy. In fact, We the People are 23rd in worldwide ranking of happiness. Oh my, we’re not number one in something? Shock of all shocks.
And that document in 1776 failed to mention that those same superlative words applied to everyone, and not simply the white conquistadors, of a nation heretofore made up of brown/red people. Now if being usurped from your own lands doesn’t cause a ripple or two, I’d be amazed. So, truth be told, we started in the glory of overcoming a domineering king while ignoring our own confiscation of property of others we considered inferior.
On this Independence Day remembrance, it is time for that hard look. In my life I often refer to it as the “come to Jesus” moment. A big reality check on the difference between promise and reality. It is the time for the congruity checkup. Are we what we say we are or have we fallen away. It is also past time to make amends in every possible way of those we judged and chose to dominate.
In the meantime, in our little bubbles of individuality and delusion, we are too often feeling unfulfilled, unhappy, depressed, desperate, and angry. No wonder. There is the more hidden shame of how our country was founded and the nagging truth of debt to those we chose to enslave.
On top of that, our now integrated media advertisements keep promising happiness if we use this or that product, take this or that pill, drink this or that alcoholic drink (hey, they don’t call it spirits for nothing), engage in this or that sport, take this or that exotic vacations, are surrounded by integrated people always laughing and having fun, keep eternally youthful by using this or that product, and the list goes on. Whew! No wonder we often feel we missed the mark.
As we approach yet another deciding political contest, we are more divided than perhaps even at the civil war. Some of us can’t even talk to our neighbors or some family over this great divide that faces us. We are failing to recognize the very things that once united us. The similarities that each and every one of us hold dear, that elusive pursuit of happiness!
Tell me, in truth, that every one of our citizens doesn’t want to be loved, appreciated, held in regard for our innate special talent. Doesn’t each citizen of what was the greatest country in the world, want and deserve, good housing, food on the table, a good measure of dignity, quality education for themselves and their children, safety from crime (we lead the pack of first world nations for crime), access to rejuvenating nature, acceptance without prejudice, pride in what we as a nation and as an individuals can accomplish? Aren’t those our common goals and needs? Or have I missed something??
Do you remember some of the lyrics of one of our patriotic songs?
“America, America may God thy gold refine
‘Til all success be nobleness
And every gain divined.
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good
With brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.”
Glorious lyrics from America the Beautiful. Where are we at this very 4th of July remembrance? I ask, no beg, each of you to remember the promises and on this special day actually intend that the second paragraph of the first article in the Declaration of Independence be revisited in each and every heart and soul. It is past time to pick up the baton of unity, to quell anger and rage, to move beyond our petty differences, to embrace each and every person as worthy of dignity, and value and restore the principals of democracy. It is way past time to also stop these ridiculous pigment prejudices. The red in our flag represents the red blood that all of us possess. The white is for purity and the blue representing the vast sky we all can enjoy.
If we could collectively do this, we would certainly bring that illusive happiness to our parties of celebration today and perhaps in a future that we desire for each and every citizen.
“The Constitution only guarantees you the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself” –Benjamin Franklin
“Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” –Aristotle
“Don’t just talk that talk, walk it and go forward. Also, the walk didn’t have to be long strides; baby steps counted too. Go forward.” –From the Movie: The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith
“…it is the great parent of science & of virtue: and that a nation will be great in both, always in proportion as it is free.” “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” –Thomas Jefferson
“I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.”
– Sun Bear, Chippewa
“And so, the world watches America—the only great power in history made up of people from every corner of the planet, comprising every race and faith and cultural practice—to see if our experiment in democracy can work. To see if we can do what no other nation has ever done. To see if we can actually live up to the meaning of our creed.” – Barack Obama. A Promised Land
