Between the viral pandemic around the world and the heightened racial tensions that have exploded around our country, 2020 feels like a year where the entire world is literally on fire. It is a fire that is blazing with no clear end in sight, and the heat of it has impacted nearly every person in one way or another.
But fire not only burns; it also refines. When we go through fire, we don't escape unchanged. Though it may be a painful transformation, we are made new.
Speaking of fire, that brings us to the holiday that Americans have deemed Independence Day, 2020. The day of grand fireworks, patriotic music, all the red, white, and blue you can imagine, all centered around social gatherings to celebrate the U.S.A. Leading up to this day, I’ve been feeling the tension between celebrating our beautiful country and at the same time lamenting the ugly parts of our [ongoing] history. Can I really say, "Let freedom ring!" when it has become so apparent to me that so many in our country are still not truly free? Can I declare "God bless America!" when I also want God to bless the entire world, and I don't want America's blessings to come at the expense of other nations? Can I long for my country to be great, but not believe that the "good old days" were truly good - because of the horrific treatment towards people of color... therefore, I don't want to make America great "again"?! Is it okay to believe in our country's founding Declaration of Independence [...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...] but not believe that we have actually lived this out as a nation, quite yet...? Is it okay that I'm proud to be an American, but also be appalled by the way our country treats "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."?
I knew this year's Independence Day would be a low-key for my family at home, as I was working at the hospital. I reflected a lot and read many different views on what this day means to different people. That evening at home as I stood in my driveway with my husband and daughters, I stared at the sparklers we were waving and thought about the very irony involved...
We celebrate with fire in our hands and admire its beauty and brilliance. And yet we know that this same fire has the potential to burn and destroy. It is possible to hold space for both the joyful celebration of its glow and solemn reverence for the heat of its flame.
So there was my answer to my own questions... In the same way, we can appreciate the blessings of freedom in our country while acknowledging deep injustices that have burned for centuries, even as a result of this “freedom”. It doesn't have to be an “either/or” perspective, but can also be a “both/and.” We can hold our sparklers high to celebrate a country we love, while also allowing the fire to illuminate the dark spaces of our past/present...and spark our willingness to pursue a brighter future for all!
We can declare "Let Freedom Ring" and mean this in a future tense, speaking into a truth that has yet to arrive for ALL people. And we can believe in our hearts that there is so much good in our country, but also believe that there is still so much work to be done.
So...Let Freedom Ring.
-L
Comments
Post a Comment