Transitions

“In every end is a new beginning…” meaningful words from a song I know and perhaps from a poem. We see this played out in life from the time we are born and until we die. Every day we change and become different, shedding old cells and growing new ones. Each morning we arise and we are not the same as we were yesterday. We have learned and grown, forgotten and decided, and we have had experiences that have shaped us into becoming the people we are.

Why are some people as they are? Psychologists who study human growth discuss whether it is nature or nurture or a combination of both that shape us into being the human beings we are. They have studied why some people succeed and some are doomed to failure it seems, why some people take risks and extend themselves in new experiences while others recoil in fear at the thought of doing something they have never done before. It certainly seems that our lives are affected by those around us, by those important to us. We become what others expect us to become unless we break out of the mold and become daring in the way we live our lives.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the country in which we live and the people who live in it. I have been comparing our country with other countries similar to ours and noting the differences that make each country unique. I guess our closest neighbor with which we share a common border and language is Canada. Our Canadian neighbors have only 37 million people residing in their land, a tenth of so of the 331 million Americans on our shores. They have about the same number of citizens that live in California but their land mass is the second largest in the world. They share our official language of English but also recognize French as an official language and many Canadians are bilingual either by birth or necessity due to occupation or educational need.

Canadians have a reputation of being nice people. What a great reputation to have, to be considered to be nice. It’s not just that individual Canadians are nice folks but their country has an ethos of being nice to one another and considerate to all. We have traveled in Canada a great deal and I can testify that it is rare to meet a Canadian who is ornery or hostile or unfriendly. They may be a bit shy and reserved but once you get to know a Canadian they are generally as friendly and helpful as one can be.

Americans overall are probably as friendly as Canadians but Americans have a reputation of being loud and even obnoxious at times. Yes, most Americans will come to the aide of others who are in need in some way and will even strike up a conversation with a stranger on the street corner or in a doctor’s office waiting room. Americans, however, have somehow become convinced that their opinion matters more than the opinion of others and that they must somehow convert others to their way of thinking or they have not satisfied their role in life. Why are two neighboring countries with so much in common so different when it comes to their general outlook on life and their outlook on how they get along with others in the world?

I formulated an opinion as to the reasoning for this quandary a few years ago when we were visiting Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (P.E.I) Canada. It is the provincial capital of PEI and also the home to the Government House where the conference for confederation was held in 1864. That meeting was attended by representatives of the provinces of Canada to form a country. The Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland scheduled the meeting and then Ontario and Quebec were added as participants. This was the beginning of the formation of the country of Canada and led to it becoming the land size it is today with ten provinces and three territories. Their country was formed by convening a peaceful meeting that even included social activities at which they ate, drank, and danced and produced a charter for confederation.

Our country, the United States of America, on the other hand, emerged from a war against a King from the same country that Canada owed its existence, the United Kingdom, and fought that war and subsequent wars against the Britain and other countries to become the land mass we are. We are scrappers in origin and by nature, it seems. Our forebears were, first of all, people who had left the land with which they fought for freedom, and they disagreed and separated because they thought their voice had not been heard concerning their quarrels with the King. Some were Scots-Irish, some were British, some were pious while others were irreligious. What they had in common was a general dislike for the government they left behind and against which they rebelled. So, they became loud and boisterous and demanding. The social fabric of the land they established was built on the right to demand one’s rights in the face of tyranny. People can be nice to one another but generally rude and obnoxious if the situation demands it.

Canadians and Americans share a common heritage but we became very different nations in many ways. Our recent election cycle illustrated how divisive a people we have become. We are divided into mindsets that incorporate our thinking that we have the answers and know the way things should be ordered and if someone does not agree with us, then we can choose to have nothing to do with them. They are dead to us. The result was social division into camps and ostracism of our neighbors with whom we share many things in common but all it took was a sign in a yard advertising promotion of a certain candidate and we were ready to throw away all we may share in favor of our allegiance to a party or a person.

I once got misty eyed when I sang “My Country, Tis of Thee” or “America, the Beautiful”. I once had a lump in my throat when I heard stories of deep devotion and allegiance to our country that caused brave men and women to give their lives in service to this land. The last four years has made me a different man in many ways. I rarely if ever think of my patriotism as a litmus test for being a good American but for some reason some in our land chose to elevate one’s devotion to this land as something necessary to display to others in a salute to a flag or a hand over the heart when it passes by. My faith in America is not for show for others to observe. It is something that lives quietly inside me to be renewed through Americans being and doing what we have always done, which is to live and act in ways that are just and merciful and kind to others. Those may be values we still believe in but our national role models for the past four years have not promoted that way of life. I am still an American but think of myself as a citizen of the world community also. American is a great land but it is not the only great land. They are many lands in the world that have citizens who live and act in honorable ways and who promote lives of justice, kindness, and hope. There are countries in the world who are for all their citizens with universal healthcare, education for all, and retirement benefits for all the elderly. In some ways, their way of life is strengthened because they want all their citizens to receive those benefits, not just those whom their government feel deserve them while others do not.

I want to recover the emotion I once felt when I sang the stirring songs of our national past. I want to hear the stories of bravery and courage and sacrifice. I want to know that our leaders are role models of the way we want to live and want our children to live. I want to feel that this land is one that offers hope and healing and happiness to all who live here or who desire to live here and not just for the wealthy and powerful in society. I want to know that our values mirror the values of all in the world who strive for a better way of life so that we all can unite in ways that go beyond human understanding. I want to be free to speak of such hopes and values and not be afraid that someone will attempt to silence me because they fear my values are not in line with what they value in this land. I want to worship or not worship in the way I choose and allow others to do the same. I want America to once again be the place where I feel at home, and not wish that we were like our kinder, gentler, gracious neighbors to the north, with whom I feel a special kinship, even if I have never lived there.