Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Tomorrow America turns 247 years old. Much younger than many places and older than some. We are still trying.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. Back in 1776, some folks penned a document and signed their names declaring that this place was independent from that place. Those who signed would all be executed if they whole thing flopped. Somehow, it all held together.

“Things in America aren’t the way they used to be.” Of course they aren’t. Things are different every day. Some things change for the worse; others for the better, and most stay the same.

Waiting for yet another, “No, we aren’t perfect, but we are better than…” essay?

I guess that is still true. We are human and we make lots of mistakes every moment of every day. We try to interpret the words of those folks back in 1776 with what we know today.

Fun fact: people in many other countries want to come to America. They jump on a floating log or walk a thousand miles to do so. They even sneak in and hope to live here long enough so that no one cares about them any longer. I guess that means we have something here that is better than some other places.

And some of us here don’t like it when others sneak in. I guess that means we like what we have. Hmmm, think about that one for a while: we like what we have.

So, once again, we observe a Fourth of July. Maybe we cook hot dogs (from Europe) and shoot fireworks (from Asia). Maybe we watch a baseball game (from here). Those are things that make America what it is. Stuff from there and there and here and all mixed in the way we like it. Not too bad after all.