Reminding Ourselves What It Means to Be An American
A very dear friend of mine, Roland Tadoum, recently became a citizen of the United States. This country is very fortunate that he aspired to become a citizen because he brings great talents and abilities to this country and shows great promise of helping to make our health care system significantly better. More importantly, he has a burning desire to be a good citizen who contributes to the well-being of this country.
He showed me a letter he received from President George W. Bush, in the package of documents he was given at the swearing in ceremony. I read through it and was a bit humbled because I was made to remember some important obligations and responsibilities that go with being a citizen of this country. It is far too easy to get caught up in our own personal affairs and forget the value of the community in which we live... and that the community in question, our country, is only as strong as the weakest links in our communities... the citizens who "let someone else vote or run for office or speak out when there is something wrong in the community," because they are just too busy to trouble themselves with such "inconvenient" matters.
It is equally very easy to get caught up in the cynical notion that there is an element of fact and an element of fiction to the American idea of government. The fiction tells us about how the system is supposed to work. The element of fact lays out how the system actually works, shows us how really imperfect the system is and identifies all the glitches that cause the system to stumble. However, even if our system of government is far from perfect, you must ask yourself if there are are any schemes of governing ourselves out there that are any better than ours... or for that matter, if there are any schemes of governing ourselves which are even as good as what we have. Too often we let the news stories about the corruption and the waste in government lead us to believe that what we have doesn't work very well. We should be amazed that it works as well as it does, in spite of all the potential glitches that can happen.
Because the message of that letter was so important, I am running the text of that letter below in this posting to my blog. Maybe the President didn't actually write this letter, but only signed it. No matter, because some messages must be spread throughout the land, not just because they are true, but also because they are important and critical for us to hear from time to time. Why? Because every so often we need to be reminded that freedom is not free and the liberties which we enjoy must be treasured, protected and preserved for future generations.
I decided that I would momentarily stand among these new citizens, if only in my mind, so that I could renew my own commitment to being a good citizen. Not a bad thing to do in these troubling times. I would swear an allegiance to what are still very important and valid ideals. I am trying to do this, as if I were receiving the privileges and obligations of citizenship for the very first time. Maybe I will be able to set aside my sometimes overwhelming cynicism and again become truly excited about becoming yet one more time a citizen of this amazing nation.
So in that spirit, please take the time to read the letter below. I sure you will know what I have been talking about once you have.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
Dear Fellow American:
I am please to congratulate you on becoming a United States citizen. You are now part of a great and blessed Nation. I know your family and friends are proud of you on this special day.
Americans are united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals. The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance , and that no insignificant person was ever born. Our country has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by principles that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests, and teach us that what it means to be citizens. Every citizen must uphold these principles. And every new citizen, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.
As you begin to participate fully in our democracy, remember that what you do is as important anything government does. I ask you to serve your new Nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens building communities of service and a Nation of character. Americans are generous and strong and decent not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.
Welcome to the joy, responsibility, and freedom of American citizenship. God bless you, and God bless America.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush