We take these words for granted. I have on my wall pictures of both John Hancock and Sam Houston. If you think about it–really think about it–the two are irreconcileable. John Hancock was defending a soon-to-blossom Yankee status quo. Some years later, Houston was defending what became a slave state against the aggressions of the Spanish colonists who had transformed themselves into the “Mexicans”.
Ponder South Carolina and Massachusetts in 1776. They were totally different. Yet, they bonded together. They melded. They formed one nation out of many. E pluribus unum.
We fail to appreciate this miracle simply because it happened. Had I sank the winning basket in some championship game, you would fete me because of the circumstances of fate. You would claim me to be special for some reason.
Likewise, we take for granted the surrender of sovereignty by some very serious people in pursuit of what has become a nation. We forget what they staked. We forget the seriousness of their claims.
They had every right to go their own way. They could have forgotten the North–conversely, the South–at any time. Yet, they staked their claim with their fellow colonialists. We should not forget this.
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Starship Log, November 28, 2110,
This is your Captain speaking. Well, here we are fellow space travelers; finally off to colonize eternity. Let’s take a moment to reflect on how we got here – All of those piles of dead heroes we have had to leave behind – all of the toxic waste we have had to bury, necessary by-products of the creation of this fantastic starship – all of the congressional budget hearings we have had to endure – all of the blog comments we have had to leave unread. It was all worth it. For myself, I only regret that I forgot to bring my Sam Houston hat. We all look the same to me, and to you also I presume. I fear you might start taking orders from some pretender, or worse, some usurper. Anyway, please fasten your seat belts. I’m kick’n this baby into warp 27.