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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAmerica tries to be many things to many people. No other country has been so successful at providing a home for such a diverse population. Most Americans relish the customs and traditions that immigrants bring. Assimilation is one of the things that make America great. America\u2019s courage and willingness to take risks is generally exemplified in its tolerance. America is struggling now to see how free it can truly be without destroying the whole. Never before that startling September 11th morning of 2001 had so many people mourned and shed tears for people they had never seen or known. We regarded each other with renewed appreciation, respect and love, for each lost life, then. . . and now. . . reminds us that each one of us is important for the survival of the whole, and to know our lives have value, that we are all accepted and appreciated, is to be in the best sense an American.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know that America has not always been an innocent in world affairs and that slavery was our sin, and, though the fight continues, freedom and dignity will win out. Those who plotted and carried out the carnage of that September morning saw no value in the American way. They were and are wrong. America\u2019s way is optimism and idealism. The American way is the creative process of building which is an act of faith and confidence in the future. Thousands of individuals were involved with the process of production and creativity when their lives were taken not only on 9-11, but on the battlefield. And today we are losing precious lives and the future they were working for. Those faces were the promise of America, its future, a future we must not lose because, if we do, then all the advances will be lost, and the loss will not only be America\u2019s but the world\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We cling to our country as we mourn the young lives that have been taken from us. America will not only survive, but it will be better and stronger because American youth will look back on America\u2019s story and will cling to it and fight for what it stands for. These young students will take us over the mountain to that safe harbor, home, America, where life and its blessings are honored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pandemic has reminded us that being human is a high-risk activity. We know the dark and the light, the good and bad, the pessimistic and optimistic sides of our nature. When the roof falls in, love can be mighty helpful. Today, let us feel the love around us. Love allows us to have hopeful hearts. But, as William Butler Yeats reminds us, \u201cHearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned. . . .\u201d Leaders must earn our hearts and minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIs there a more appropriate time to be discussing leadership and the need for the kind of leadership that Abraham Lincoln practiced? Lincoln was the essence of leadership. He was straightforward with no gimmicks. As he said, \u201cThe time will never come in this country when the people won\u2019t know exactly what sugar-coated means!\u201d Lincoln\u2019s intelligence was combined with courage and perseverance along with a passionate devotion to principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question today is, do we have the courage to stand up and do what we know is right? Is there a revolt in the making?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation\u2019s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan\u2014to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.\u201d What Lincoln wrote was a \u201chow to do it\u201d manual on leadership in crisis. Government has, Lincoln said, a responsibility \u201cto do for the people what—they cannot—do at all, or well, for themselves.\u201d A president\u2019s words must be fresh, exact, and true \u2013 he or she must fight power and privilege and special exceptions. This is the kind of leader America needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is impossible not to think about all the lives that have been lost, but we go on, we must, we owe it to them. They must not have died in vain. We all wish for secret places. As children free of care, we explore the mysteries of life behind the couch or under a table. As adults we are most fortunate if we can turn to home, a place without secrets, where life and its blessings are honored. Home is the foxhole, cocoon, where you can find comfort and good food. Home has always been a place of seclusion, a safe harbor for frets and outbursts. Home is the place where so many are desperately and heart wrenchingly missed. When I think of home, my thoughts are wound around my mother. Mothers are havens of sharing, caring and grace. My mother died while planting flower seeds, an act of faith and confidence in the future. We lose our mothers and, sadly, our children. But may we not lose our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protective thoughts and love of country spew forth because a great price has been paid through the years for being a great and wonderful country, whose people want to do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the conclusion of Elizabeth Maddox Robert\u2019s The Time of Man<\/em>, Nan asks, \u201cWhere are we a-goin, Mammy?\u201d Mammy answers, \u201cI don\u2019t know, Somewheres\u2026 Some better place.\u201d It is our children who give us the best chance of reaching that better place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Through all its struggles, America has been a haven, much as a good home is, of sharing, caring, and grace. American courage, compassion and generosity have been overwhelming. America has always been about hope and fortitude. No matter how profound the tragedy, this country\u2019s courage has been astounding. America has achieved greatness by accepting great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}