Have We Forgotten How to be One Nation?
When I think back to my own childhood, I remember a very different kind of America. Political differences didn’t end friendships or divide families. We could disagree passionately around the dinner table, then pass the mashed potatoes and go right back to laughing together. We listened to each other. We tried to understand. There was a sense of tolerance, real tolerance, that didn’t depend on whether we agreed.
That word, tolerance, has somehow lost its true meaning. Today, it feels like we demand others tolerate our views but aren’t so quick to offer the same grace in return. Maybe it’s time we relearned how to truly listen, not just to respond, but to understand.
I often think of the words we all recited as schoolchildren: “One nation under God, indivisible.” Do we still mean those words? Indivisible, that’s a powerful word. It means unable to be divided or separated. Yet, division seems to be the defining feature of our times. Oh, how I wish we could once again say those words and mean them from the heart: “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Abraham Lincoln warned us long ago that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” And I find myself wondering how do we repair our broken house before it crumbles further? Maybe it starts right where we live. If we each spent more time keeping our own house in order, we might be less tempted to point out the dust on our neighbor’s windowsill.
I think often of the men and women who have fought and died for this country, for the ideals of freedom, unity, and democracy. I can’t help but wonder what they would think if they could see us now, bickering and tearing one another down. Their sacrifices deserve better than the division we’ve allowed to take root.
Several years ago, there was a popular little book called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Its message was simple but profound: as adults, we often forget the basic lessons we learned as children, share, take turns, say you’re sorry, and clean up your own mess. Maybe it’s time we revisit those kindergarten lessons.
Because it really is that simple, isn’t it? We don’t have to agree on everything, in fact, we never will, but we can disagree with kindness. We can speak with respect. We can stop lashing out in anger and start leaning into understanding.
When I look around our small communities here in the Juniata River Valley, I see so much good, neighbors helping neighbors, volunteers giving their time, local businesses supporting each other. It reminds me that the heart of America is still strong. Maybe the path back to unity doesn’t start in Washington or on the evening news. Maybe it starts right here, in places like ours, where people still wave to one another on back roads and bring casseroles when someone’s hurting.
The whole world is watching us. America has long been a symbol of democracy and freedom, but lately, I worry about the example we’re setting. Are we showing the world a country to look up to or one to pity? Are we leading with love, or with anger?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: “We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools.” I, for one, don’t want to see this great nation perish because we couldn’t learn to live together.
So, what can we do right now, right here, to make a difference? We can start by being kind. By listening more and judging less. By reaching across divides, even when it’s uncomfortable. By remembering that behind every opinion is a person, a person with hopes, fears, and dreams not so very different from our own.
If each of us chose kindness today, just one small act or one encouraging word, we could begin stitching back together the fabric of this beautiful country we call home. Maybe then we could once again say with authentic hearts: One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Rhonda S. Kelley, Executive Director, Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce