History is more than memorizing dates and names.
History tells a story.
America has a unique story.
It's not one of perfection. Nor one that is error-free. The American story filled with both good and not-so-good chapters, moments which brings both pride and shame.
Some focus solely on the good. Others solely on the bad. However, focusing on one extreme or the other doesn't tell the whole narrative.
But American history is still our story. It defines us and gives our culture meaning.
I have walked through the town of Yorktown. I experienced Monticello as well as Jefferson's slave quarters.
I have stood at both headwaters of the Missouri River as well as its mouth into the Mississippi over 2000 miles later, marking the rough boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase that was marked by Lewis and Clark.
I have experienced the battlefields of Gettysburg and Vicksburg which marked the turning points of the Civil War, and Appomattix where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.
I stood atop the hill upon which General Custer paid the final consequences for his careless judgments as well upon the field along the Wounded Knee Creek.
I have visited beaches of Utah and bloody Omaha, as well as walked among the bomb craters and bunker remains atop Pont du Hoc in Normandy, France.
They tell the stories of grave errors often found in a broken humanity, but also of divine miracles and grace as this nation stumbled its way through history like a lanky adolescent which formed and defined our unique culture that has been recently rediscovered and celebrated by European and Asian World Cup soccer fans.
This is the American story.
A story based on the idea that our basic rights come from our Creator, not from government. These rights are absolute, and they cannot be taken away.
It is an experiment that started 250 years ago today and endured hardships and countless close calls that could have changed the course of human history.
But we have persevered.
My prayer is we don't give up on this great experiment. America, I pray, has much more to show the world in the centuries to come.
Happy 250th birthday, USA!
History tells a story.
America has a unique story.
It's not one of perfection. Nor one that is error-free. The American story filled with both good and not-so-good chapters, moments which brings both pride and shame.
Some focus solely on the good. Others solely on the bad. However, focusing on one extreme or the other doesn't tell the whole narrative.
But American history is still our story. It defines us and gives our culture meaning.
I have walked through the town of Yorktown. I experienced Monticello as well as Jefferson's slave quarters.
I have stood at both headwaters of the Missouri River as well as its mouth into the Mississippi over 2000 miles later, marking the rough boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase that was marked by Lewis and Clark.
I have experienced the battlefields of Gettysburg and Vicksburg which marked the turning points of the Civil War, and Appomattix where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.
I stood atop the hill upon which General Custer paid the final consequences for his careless judgments as well upon the field along the Wounded Knee Creek.
I have visited beaches of Utah and bloody Omaha, as well as walked among the bomb craters and bunker remains atop Pont du Hoc in Normandy, France.
They tell the stories of grave errors often found in a broken humanity, but also of divine miracles and grace as this nation stumbled its way through history like a lanky adolescent which formed and defined our unique culture that has been recently rediscovered and celebrated by European and Asian World Cup soccer fans.
This is the American story.
A story based on the idea that our basic rights come from our Creator, not from government. These rights are absolute, and they cannot be taken away.
It is an experiment that started 250 years ago today and endured hardships and countless close calls that could have changed the course of human history.
But we have persevered.
My prayer is we don't give up on this great experiment. America, I pray, has much more to show the world in the centuries to come.
Happy 250th birthday, USA!
History is more than memorizing dates and names.
History tells a story.
America has a unique story.
It's not one of perfection. Nor one that is error-free. The American story filled with both good and not-so-good chapters, moments which brings both pride and shame.
Some focus solely on the good. Others solely on the bad. However, focusing on one extreme or the other doesn't tell the whole narrative.
But American history is still our story. It defines us and gives our culture meaning.
I have walked through the town of Yorktown. I experienced Monticello as well as Jefferson's slave quarters.
I have stood at both headwaters of the Missouri River as well as its mouth into the Mississippi over 2000 miles later, marking the rough boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase that was marked by Lewis and Clark.
I have experienced the battlefields of Gettysburg and Vicksburg which marked the turning points of the Civil War, and Appomattix where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.
I stood atop the hill upon which General Custer paid the final consequences for his careless judgments as well upon the field along the Wounded Knee Creek.
I have visited beaches of Utah and bloody Omaha, as well as walked among the bomb craters and bunker remains atop Pont du Hoc in Normandy, France.
They tell the stories of grave errors often found in a broken humanity, but also of divine miracles and grace as this nation stumbled its way through history like a lanky adolescent which formed and defined our unique culture that has been recently rediscovered and celebrated by European and Asian World Cup soccer fans.
This is the American story.
A story based on the idea that our basic rights come from our Creator, not from government. These rights are absolute, and they cannot be taken away.
It is an experiment that started 250 years ago today and endured hardships and countless close calls that could have changed the course of human history.
But we have persevered.
My prayer is we don't give up on this great experiment. America, I pray, has much more to show the world in the centuries to come.
Happy 250th birthday, USA!
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