Written by: Emma Hamlin, Policy Intern
Can we all agree that America’s 250th Birthday was unforgettable?! 250 Years have now come and gone. Wow. It does not feel real, and to be honest, I am not done celebrating. More celebrations of this great country are still happening, and I want to be part of them all.
So yesterday I was on social media and came across a video by Matthew McConaughey that I found very interesting. It wasn’t from a perspective from one side of the political spectrum or the other, but about America’s 250th birthday. Now, if you have a chance, you should watch the video. He starts the video by saying that America is “250 years young.” I love that perspective. Some people think that 250 years is a long time for a country, but if you really think about it, it’s not. China has been around for 3500 years. In the grand scheme of history, our nation is still young, still growing, and still writing its story. He continues talking about what America is and where it’s going, saying that it was the land that has never been… yet. “Yet” is a very interesting word to use, but it’s so true because it carries so much hope. The American dream is built on the idea of forward progress, and that’s all we can do.
According to Matthew McConaughey, America was founded on a “belief worth fighting for… an act of faith that self-governing people could be something worth being and becoming,” and “250 years later, the bet is still on the table”. And I couldn’t agree more.
In order to get to a position close to yet, we need skeptics in this country. People who are going to ask questions, people who are going to push the envelope towards furthering, in my opinion, one of the greatest countries in the world. We don’t need people looking down on what happened in the past. We can learn from the past, but we do not need to dwell on it.
This is “250 years showing up. Arguing, loving, losing, forgiving, starting over, believing in who we are, what we can be, that is the yet that we need to be chasing”, America. For those who say that we shouldn’t be celebrating the Fourth of July, the celebration is not that we have arrived anywhere, but to the fact that we are still on our way, we are still growing. We are still learning from our mistakes, we are still learning from our successes, and we have a country that was founded on the principles of God first and country next. You can only go upward. Now, my warning is this: we may have the principles, we may have the foundation, but are we going to act on said principles, stand firm on that foundation, and give it credit?
As Matthew McConaughey said, “We’re raising a glass to family and friends, and maybe even to the neighbor that we don’t necessarily agree with.”
The founding of the United States is celebrated across the nation, and it is due to a few people. First, the founding fathers, who had the boldness and guts to undertake an incredible act of faith to put together a nation of self-governing people that could be worth being and becoming. Next, the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so that we can live in a country that, in my opinion, is truly free. And finally to God. America would not be in the position or the place that it is without the Holy Father’s guidance. Not all of our leaders have stood on godly principles, but we have seen in the Bible that God can take a nation, despite its leaders, and make it great.
So America, same time next year?
