I don’t believe we live in the greatest country on earth.

I’m not even sure what metric could possibly determine that. In so many we fall short of many other nations.

But, the United States is my home, so I love it. It’s beautiful and majestic. I love that people from everywhere live here. I love the vast array of knowledge and traditions and languages spoken here. I love that we can say and believe many different things.

I love that we declared to the world so long ago that all people are created equal. I love that our founding day remembers a committee-drafted legal document declaring that sovereignty rests in the people.

We don’t live those ideals perfectly, yet. Coming anywhere close has been a long, slow, bloody process. I hope that we can keep striving to come ever closer, despite our many backward steps. I hope we can remember that “all men” is a synecdoche, not for “all European men” but for “all humans.” Every man, woman, and child of every race, creed, gender, orientation, or any other identity we use to divide ourselves, was created by a loving God and given the same inalienable rights.

I hope we can shed the harmful ideas and partisanship that dominate our culture.

I hope we remember that no man or party or belief is more important than our neighbor.

Be safe and I hope you can find something to be grateful for today.