I can’t help but reflect this morning on yesterday’s holiday. The preparation, the celebration with my growing family, and the return to ordinary life afterward are always a process. This year, even amid the busyness, I woke with a quiet sadness and a deep sense of nostalgia resting in my heart.
Our country is 250 years old. While we are not the world’s oldest democracy, we are home to one of the longest-standing written constitutions, designed to establish a government rooted in the will of its people. As Abraham Lincoln would later describe it, a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” While that vision was not fully realized at our founding, the circle of inclusion did expand over time through struggle, sacrifice, perseverance, and the determination of those who believed our nation’s ideals should belong to everyone.
Perhaps that is why yesterday felt different.
I entered the holiday aware of these conflicting emotions. I wanted to set them aside for a while. The goal to enjoy the laughter, the conversations, the traditions, and the simple gift of being with the people I love. And I did. Yet beneath the celebration, I found myself carrying a quiet heaviness. Not because I long for a perfect past that never existed, but because I found myself wondering whether the democratic principles so many have worked to strengthen across generations may be more vulnerable than believed. Whether our perspectives differ on how we arrived here, I imagine I’m not the only one who has wrestled with the feeling that something precious is slipping through our hands.
This morning, returning to baseline feels different than years past. The busyness of creating the celebration has passed, and what remains is a silence spacious enough for reflection.
It leaves me wondering, worried, and determined. Determined not to let uncertainty become cynicism. Determined to keep asking difficult questions, to keep listening, and to keep believing that democracy is not sustained by documents alone, but by ordinary people who continue to show up for one another.
Perhaps that is what hope asks of us—not certainty, but the courage to remain engaged, even when our hearts may be heavy.
As always, thank you for reading. I look forward to connecting through your writing and mine.
Photo:Pixabay
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Resources and References:
Lincoln, A. (1863, November 19). Gettysburg Address. In R. P. Basler (Ed.), The collected works of Abraham Lincoln (Vol. 7, pp. 17–18). Rutgers University Press.
National Archives. (n.d.). Constitution of the United States: A transcription.
Wood, G. S. (2006). Revolutionary characters: What made the founders different. Penguin Press.
National Hotlines:
The National Domestic Violence Helpline: (1-800-799-SAFE 7233)
The National Domestic Violence Chatline.http://www.TheHotLine.org
Treatment Referral Helpline:(1-877-726-4727)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:(1-800-273-8255)
The Hotline. (n.d.).Abuse defined. National Domestic Violence Hotline.https://www.thehotline.org/identify-abuse/
Counseling Resources:
Better Help:https://www.betterhelp.com/
Psychology Today:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us
Talk Space:https://www.talkspace
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