By Qarol Price
Imagine receiving a 250-year-old torch whose flame has never stopped burning. You may react with wonder and awe at how many generations before you had carried it.
But admiration and appreciation alone do not keep the torch ablaze. The responsibility is to keep it burning and pass it forward. This is the job of a patriot, a faithful watchdog and defender of our Natural Rights as affirmed in the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago. These are the unalienable rights that all individuals possess, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Our country’s having achieved its Semiquincentennial is a testament to patriotism. And perhaps it is a time not only to admire and appreciate our nation’s illustrious accomplishments, but to be mindful of the principles that are so imperative to maintain them.
After all, there are plenty of dangers and diversions that menace the landscape, distracting us away from the nobler path.
Many things on our timeline urge us to take stock – birthdays, anniversaries, the new year. Therefore, the 250-year birthday would seem to call for a mighty deep-diving check-up! If we were to make like a patriot, we would do the national equivalent of “soul searching.” Beyond “Knowing Thyself,” the patriot obeys the wider duty to “Know Thy Country” as well.
The Semiquincentennial invites citizens to experience something that modern life seems to have moved away from: a sense of belonging to a story larger than themselves. Most of us naturally spend considerable time thinking about our individual identities: our careers, backgrounds, orientations, preferences, beliefs, struggles, aspirations, etc. These are important concerns. Yet a healthy society also requires a corresponding awareness of one’s national identity. As above, so below. As within, so without.
A person who thinks only of himself becomes self-absorbed. A nation whose citizens think only of themselves becomes fragmented. The question we might raise by the 250th anniversary is whether Americans still possess the ability to perceive the United States as a shared moral enterprise rather than merely a collection of competing interests.
The national identity often receives far less reflection. This imbalance can be compared to a musician who knows every detail about his own instrument but has forgotten he belongs to an orchestra. Yes, the instrument matters. Its unique sound matters. But the larger composition becomes cacophonous if every player hears only himself.
The 250th anniversary therefore presents an opportunity to recover a broader vision. We are individuals, certainly. But we are also participants in families, communities and nations. We are responsible for all of them. Patriotism lifts them all.
