The Here and Now

“All his life has he looked away.... Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph.” - Yoda

In a conversation many days ago, my interlocutor asked me what there was to love about modern America. We like old England rather a lot… but we can’t put up with the here and now. This is a problem.

Partly, this problem stems from the fact that we are not living in old England (or insert here whatever time you consider to be the “good old days”). If we were, many of us would probably consider a portrait of modern America to be heaven. But familiarity breeds contempt… so every now and again we need to step back and evaluate our situation anew.

First off, we need to realize that by simply living in 21st century America, we are hugely blessed. Consider all the tools we have available – things like blogs and Google and graphing calculators. Consider how comfortable our lives are – indoor plumbing, central air conditioning, medicines. Consider that we live at peace in the most prosperous country on earth. That all of us, men and women, are well-educated members of this society. These are new things that Jane Austen never could have dreamed of – and that many in the world still cannot. For many of them, poverty and oppression – a “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” life – is the norm.

Secondly, isn’t there something in Americana that inspires a certain love? Foreign countries are, believe it or not, foreign :). While it is fun to visit them and interact with them, we aren’t them. Because, whether we know it or not, we’re American. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We’re democrats and proud of it. (Sure, part of me says I’d like to be in an aristocracy… if I can be an aristocrat… and still treat everyone I meet as my equal.) We’re the underdogs who won. Our society reveres dreamers who accomplished something great on a wing and a prayer. We’re cowboys. We’re rough and ready and we plunge in where angels fear to tread. We’re not about words but deeds. Not about appearance but substance. And though we may look a bit unkempt on the outside, we have a big heart.

But I don’t expect you to take my word for it. It’s really the sort of thing you have to experience, if you haven’t already. So, here are my suggestions:
If you get a chance to travel in-country, take it. See its many faces (both human and geographical) – get acquainted with your homeland and fall in love with its mountains, plains, deserts and rolling hills.
Read – or at least remember – US history. Recall our heroes – men of honor, like Washington; men of vision and determination, like Edison; men of valor, like the many who died on foreign soil, protecting our freedom and that of other nations.
Travel internationally whenever you have the chance. There is no better way to discover that you are an American. People often seem to think they’ve “missed their calling” until they try out the other ones available.

Just don’t ever forget how blessed we are to live in the here and now. Twenty-first century America is a great nation, one of the greatest the earth has ever seen. If we do not see how we are blessed in this regard – if we do not see that we have been given much – we will not see the needs that we can fulfill – that is, that much is required of us.