Wednesday, July 17, 2013

American Hope

Note; This post is a year in the making.  It is about hope for America.  Life has thrown a few setbacks and hope had a hard time shining through.  Then I had the opportunity to visit the John F. Kennedy library in Boston last week.  Fifty years after his death JFK gives me hope.  So after a year in the box, what do you think America?

I have been accused of having a poor memory.  The truth is it is more like selective memory.  Most of us fall into this category.  There have been times in our history when we all grab onto a memory and hold it for life.  The good times and the bad times.  The traumatic and the great.  I’m not going to talk about the days watching Kennedy burial or the towers falling.  Let’s talk about hope.

My first memory of hope was of a young President Kennedy in front of the camera, speaking at Rice University September 12th, 1962;  “We choose to go to the Moon, not because it is easy but, because it is hard”.  If you would like to listen to the speech;  http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm.  There were thousands of hours over many years leading up to that decision.  It was that moment in time that I understood what it was like to be a proud American.

My second memory of hope was the very second that Neil Armstrong put his foot (OUR FOOT) on the moon.  Neil Armstrong said it best; “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.   Neil Armstrong did not consider himself a hero.  He once said that when his foot touched the moon it was for every American now and for all those that would follow.

The third time was during a speech by President Ronald Reagan.  Part of his speech;

“The poet called Miss Liberty's torch the ``lamp beside the golden door.'' Well, that was the entrance to America, and it still is. And now you really know why we're here tonight.

The glistening hope of that lamp is still ours. Every promise, every opportunity is still golden in this land. And through that golden door our children can walk into tomorrow with the knowledge that no one can be denied the promise that is America.

Her heart is full; her door is still golden, her future bright. She has arms big enough to comfort and strong enough to support, for the strength in her arms is the strength of her people. She will carry on in the eighties unafraid, unashamed, and unsurpassed.

In this springtime of hope, some lights seem eternal; America's is.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.”

Is America done?  Where is our hope for our future?  I feel the hope trying to get past all the rhetoric coming out of Washington.  I hear the hope of everyday Americans fighting for opportunity.  I see young high school graduates that are reaching for something to be hopeful about.  As long as our Government rules the people it is very hard for all this hope to find a foothold.  Maybe it is time for the Government to get out of the way and let Americans build our future?  You want to see hope?  Give someone an opportunity to earn a job rather than hand him a check.  You want to see hope?  Let people make a lot of money and not treat them like a criminal.

America is hope!   We hear how much the world hates America however, people from all over this world want to come to America.  Why is America the greatest country this world has ever seen?  The answer may be in it’s people.  American’s are from every country, every religion, every belief, every color, every age, height, weight, and with physical and mental limitations.  Together there is nothing we can not do.  The differences are what unite us.