OPINION:
In the midst of an electoral vote certification and on the cusp of an inspirational 60th presidential inauguration, the American people are also embarking upon a fresh journey.
Planning has already begun for the celebration of our semiquincentennial anniversary, or our nation’s 250th birthday. If we are to survive and thrive past the average 300-year mark of most democracies and republics, we can’t forget that we are not one or the other, but both.
Even more than that, I implore my fellow Americans to rediscover their authentic selves through a healthy supply of the most indispensable ingredient for the success of a democratic republic: trust. Not just trust in our institutional processes and the bedrock principles of the Constitution, but trust in God, family and country. We must have faith in each other and belief in ourselves.
Though the past quarter century has brought us complex catalysts for the breakdown of our civilizational structure, it is evident that the reason for our failure to reconcile has been the conversion of our friends into enemies, neighbors into strangers, countrymen into combatants and the placement of God into obscurity. We must reverse this insidious trend through the realization that the apparent collapse of our inherent understanding of the world is a chance at redemption not offered to any other people throughout history.
It seems to me that the attainment of rock bottom was the only path toward recovery for America. Some entertain a disavowal of their citizenship or national divorce as the antidotes for the victory of those with whom they disagree, but in truth the answer to your anger or desire to break away is to lean into that which discomfits you. This year, I will be one voice championing the power of trust in the repair of this storied and youthful experiment in liberty.
HENRY WILSON
Washington
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