We Need To Have A Better Appreciation Of What America Has Accomplished In So Short A Time; Keeping A Promise

Growing older has a funny(?) way of helping one put history into perspective. From this end of my life, 70 years ago when I was born doesn't seem so long ago. 70 'sounds' kinda old in a way (I always thought 70 was old until I got here!) but now 1942 seems closer than that number implies.

What got me thinking about that is our country's history relative to my life. We talk about America's founding and important events in our 'early' history as if they were eons ago but then I realized this. My 70 years seem short in time. If 70 isn't so long ago then twice that isn't so far back as it might otherwise feel either. Just over twice my age ago the civil war began! And then I marvelled at how far we have come since then ... in so short a time ... and I marvel at the two documents, a declaration and a challenge/promise, that made it possible.

There are two ways to look at that of course. Either I'm really, really old or the civil war wasn't really that long ago in the scheme of things. (Guess which I choose!) 150 years ago (only twice my age or so) is a time we can almost reach out and touch historically speaking. Then I marvel at how far we've come as a nation in so few as twice my years. We ought to appreciate that more.

Our wonderfully constructed Constitution gave us an opportunity, a challenge and a promise. That is, if we hold the course it set us on we would, recognizably over short increments of time, continuously(!) make our country more perfect. Not perfect, mind you. In fact, never perfect. Just ever more perfect. It's a promise and a challenge that encourages us to be patient but persistent.

Implied in that promise is a warning that straying too far from the founding principles would invalidate the warranty our founders gave to us. Just as a car warranty requires one to maintain the car in specific ways in order to maintain the integrity(!) of the product, so too the Constitution requires regular checkups to ensure it remains in good working order ... as designed. It's worth considering that changing the design of a car too much invalidates the warranty ... ie, the promise.