Today I Am An American

“There are things worth fighting for although I wish there was another way to do it than to try to kill each other. We’ll learn one of these days, but I won’t be around for that.”  Walter Stitt, age 99, who fought on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944

The tributes to veterans who fought on D-Day 80 years ago have have been so beautiful and powerful, especially because the time is coming when the D-Day veterans will no longer be with us.

And I hope – as we in the United States vote this November – that we will consider the words of both the veterans and heads of state at these ceremonies when we enter the voting booth. In our divided nation, it feels unifying to hear words against tyranny and for characteristics like honor, sacrifice, and freedom.

We sometimes disagree what it means to be free. Does freedom include control over our own bodies? Does freedom include personal purchases of military weapons? Does freedom include keeping a certain demographic out of our neighborhoods? Does freedom include shouting incendiary words into a megaphone?

Today I was especially proud to be an American as I witnessed over 100 immigrants become citizens of the United States. They hailed from Ukraine and Russia, Eritrea and Ghana, Turkey and Uzbekistan, Philippines and Vietnam. Honduras and Haiti. Every corner of the planet.

Children were invited to lead us all in the Pledge of Allegiance. Representatives from the League of Women Voters assisted new citizens as they registered to vote. Photos were taken in front of American flags and banners that proclaimed “Today I Am An American.”

One of those new citizens is a friend who is a leader in one of our congregations in the Presbytery of Charlotte and I could not be happier that he is not only my brother in Christ and my neighbor, but that we now share the same kind of passport and the same liberties and privileges. The American passport is considered one of the most valuable in the world. “People treat you with more respect when you carry an American passport,” my friend shared over lunch after the ceremony.

I wish every native-born American could attend one of these naturalization ceremonies. I wish every aspiration of the U.S. Constitution was attainable for all people. I wish all people treated each other with respect no matter what passport they held. I wish there was a way to defend what we believe in without trying to kill each other.

Today I am an American and I’m feeling particularly patriotic. And we have a lot of work to do. Yes to honor, sacrifice and freedom. No to dishonor, selfishness and authoritarianism. Please vote in November.

Image of new American Pastor Amisi who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is now a citizen of the United States of America.