I’ve never made New Year’s resolutions, though I know that my wife could easily write ten for me that I ought to make for myself. And yet today, the day after the newest day of political new years in my 58 on the planet, I feel called to make at least one.
Like so many of you, I have sat fuming for a long time, furious, embarrassed, and disgusted with the state of our state. And, like so many of you, I have done pretty much nothing about it except to complain. Whine. Deride. Pontificate. Sit. Sure, I gave some cash to a hopeful campaign. Yeah, I wrote a letter or two, put up a facile post here and there, lobbied a family member or three. And yes, I know that these things matter, but...
Sunday I watched a YouTube of Pete Seeger singing Woody Guthrie. He put his hands out, exhorting the crowd to sing along to the refrain "This land is your land" with an awesome energy. I realized with, I guess I’d call it shock, that he means it. Yes. It is my land. Mine to do something about.
Before I watched to inaugural address, I took James Fallows’ advice and read the "I have a dream" speech. I watched it, too. Dr. King meant what he said, too – there can be no doubt about that. So I watched the inaugural address, twice now, and I read it. Say what you will about its rhetorical quality, its permanence, its poetry or the lack thereof, there are some demands in it that I must confront. President Obama means what he said, too – that seems certain. And he, like Pete Seeger, like Dr. King, like so many others I should have heard or read as well, was speaking to me.
So what did I hear?
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
Yes. So I affirm it. How? By saying that I affirm it? Is there something I should do?
Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
Full disclosure: I personally am fortunate enough to not require too much dusting. I have a pension AND a job. (I teach at an international school in Austria after 35 years in Illinois public schools.) But yes. I should help remake America. That’s me. I should help.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke,but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Indeed. Another mirror held for me. I don’t exactly fit in the heroic firefighter category. So what exactly am I doing right now, other than performing as a reasonably competent teacher and a sympathetic listener to my reasonably well-raised grown children?
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
Aha. It is required. Of me, too.
Today I listened to an NPR person-on-the-mall interview with a woman who brought children to the event. They were cold, and they complained. She told them, and I paraphrase poorly from memory, that given what her forebears endured, for this moment they could stand to be a bit cold. I thought to myself, this is such a moment to be seized. I quickly ran through a litany of what all sorts of people ought to be doing to seize the moment, from kids doing their homework to politicians doing their jobs to corporations etc etc etc. I was brushing my teeth as I was running through my mental list, just a little late for work. I looked in the mirror. Uh oh.
I went back to my desk and re-read the address.
Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Let it be said of me.
And so I will begin here, I hope. Now.
As a teacher, retired, rehired, and to-be-retired again, I’m pretty sure that I can help in schools that need help. I have some ideas about how to do this that are not ready for a diary. I think these are good ideas that go beyond reading to poor kids on Wednesdays – not that that’s a bad thing. I’m a math teacher, by the way. I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s important book, Outliers. For now I’ll just say that I wholeheartedly endorse tapping the power of culture to create opportunity, and I’d like to try move along those lines.
If you are a retired teacher, or a math teacher, or simply interested in this subject, feel free to write to me directly. Perhaps we can begin something together.
Thanks for listening.