American Alison

Greetings to you, from me and my betta fish Euphrates, who presently sits next to me, and lives in a pineapple under the sea...

Just shy of 100 hours ago, I found myself standing up, singing aloud the United States of America’s national anthem. I wasn’t bursting out the tune in a big-time sports arena or stadium, surrounded by thousands of spectators. I was in a calm and quaint chapel. And I wasn’t singing solo. I was reverently harmonizing with dozens of friends from my church’s congregation.

I had sung this song, in this fashion, with my congregation, many times before. Usually around Independence Day. That’s one thing I really like about my religion: it emphasizes the importance of cherishing your country, honoring and sustaining its laws, and understanding that it is a beautiful earthly home that has been provided to you by a loving God.

Anyway, about that moment in the chapel, and about that song… Like I said, I had sung it a whole bunch of times, out loud alongside a crowd for multitudinous years. Let’s isolate a chunk of the past…say…five years of my life. When singing it in that first year of five, I had to do a quick double-take of myself upon the conclusion of the anthem’s final note: Alison, pardon me, but did you just get emotional? How come you almost cried just now?

And then each year after that just got more and more emotional. Annum by annum, Fourth of July by Fourth of July, the song increased exponentially in its specialness in my eyes (ears, whatever). A hundred hours ago, I noticed that it is quite possibly the most sacred hymn to me, of all the 341 hymns in my religion’s current hymnal (“The Star-Spangled Banner” is hymn #340). To me, its meaningfulness is amplified to its peak when all its verses are expressed by a peaceable union of souls – as is demonstrated by attenders of Sunday services in a holy and humble meetinghouse.

So why, for the love of Pete, is my nation’s anthem so doggone precious to me? Can I pinpoint what it is that I’m feeling when I’m singing it with my peeps? Possibly. Perhapsibly. Well...nah. I doubt my capability in this context. But I’ll try my hand at explaining, and maybe I’ll be able to adequately describe a fraction of the enormity of what was blissfully boiling in my heart 100 hours ago.

By the time we got to the last couple of lyrical lines, I started to choke on my own Eve’s apple and I couldn’t utter the words even though all the galaxies’ populations probably did depend on it. I muddled my way through the remainder of the song, which was the closing hymn, and as soon as I sat back down with everybody, following the final “home of the brave,” it was time for the benediction. We closed our eyes, bowed our heads, and clasped our hands or folded our arms, and gargantuan tears automatically began building up behind my eyelids. When the solemn “amen” gently resounded, all eyes flicked back open, and my watery monstrosities were like Iguazu Falls on the Argentine/Brazilian border.

A Kentucky Derby of thoroughbred thoughts was racing through my mind, thoughts of what being an American really means to me. First of all, it means a lot to me that I live in a land that is overflowing with people, in every nook n’ cranny, who all honor their country – even if it’s just silently within their own selves. They know and love that the United States are chock full of heaps of pure beauty, and they share a deep respect for all that USA’s society has gone through to become the stellar conglomeration that it is today. We really have gone through a lot during the past several centuries. Through thick and thin—through scary, hairy, peaceful, and triumphant situations—we, the American people of then and now, have been edified together by way of experience.

Together we pledged to be brave as we initially declared our independence, which wasn’t without its repercussions; we needed to continue in our valor. The need to mindfully, skillfully, and courageously continue in our defense of freedom has not been extinguished. It likely never will.

Together we have trudged through economic swamps. Many of us have had our dog days of discouragement, during which we’ve wondered when we’ll step out on top again. The beautiful thing about that is that, while amid those times, many of us have also been encircled by genuinely good friends and family who continually encouraged us to keep our chins up. I’ve had that in my own life. I see it in others’ lives. It’s everywhere. Wonderful people who stick together are everywhere.

We’ve stuck together in instances when humanity was in danger. In those moments we’ve duly noted the urgency, and stepped up to fearlessly and faithfully help each other out, whether face-to-face or through prayer from afar. Often these are the moments during which we feel the greatest love for each other as fellow citizens and fellowman, and these are the moments to be remembered, in order to remember that love for one another is constantly important, twenty-four/seven.

Together we walk around smiling at each other, in lots of places at least. As simple of a characteristic that may seem on the surface, it’s one of my favorite traits among those who live here. Most every time you turn a corner of an American intersection (on the streets, in the mall, in the grocery store, wherever), the next person you see is likely someone who would be glad to have a brief smiling fest with you. I don’t think smiling is as huge a custom in other countries as it is in this one, and so it’s something that I consciously embrace.

Together we explore our own National Parks – for our own amusement, of course, but also for the thrill we get whenever we seize the chance to personally welcome foreign visitors to our stomping grounds, like when you find yourself sitting next to a married Dutch couple on a bus in Bryce Canyon, and you gleefully enter a conversation with them, A) because you get a kick out of listening to their accents, and B) because you’re excited to hear about what fun stuff they’ve done so far in America, and what things they’ve enjoyed the best.

It’s just a neat, neat place we’ve got here, folks. People from across the globe flock here, because they think it’s a superb destination. Loads of them even dream of living here, and loads of those loads load up their every droplet of courage into their buckets, travel here on their own, and strive to reach their chosen goals. That’s another one of my favorite things about this nation. Many of my favorite friends are those who have journeyed here from all quarters of the earth. These dear people are a big beauty factor that beautifies this land. We dwell in a melting pot indeed, and it is a very lovely melting pot. (By the way, this reminds me that I’d like to introduce you to Humans of New York, in case you’ve never heard of it before. Very cool.)

On a more personal note, I’m gonna start wrapping things up by declaring my gratitude to those who first got the ball rolling with our great country, the United States of America. Golly, those founding fathers were sure swell. I thank them for tirelessly constructing our fabulous Constitution, which has stood the test of time for hundreds of years, and has been the foundation for the life I’m living. No, like really, the Constitution seriously has so much to do with everything I’m filling up my days with. If there were no such thing as our Constitution, I’d question whether or not I’d be free to actively practice my religion, of which I am quite fond. I wonder if I would have been able to get my quality education and quality job. I’m not so sure I’d be permitted to embark on an entrepreneurial road, if that were my desired trail for travel. My favorite recreational activities: would even those be options on the table, had our country never housed the skeleton that it houses?

I’m even inclined to think that America’s heritage somehow correlates with the connection I feel with my ancestors, as well as family members who walk the planet with me now. My personal heritage is filled with terrific people who outwardly treasured this country. That attitude has trickled down to the generation just prior to mine, and that generation has transferred it to me and my generation. I plan to maintain that same attitude, and pass it forward to my posterity and my posterity’s peers. I plan to do it by keeping up with the following:

- My smiling

- My positivity

- My productivity

- My dedication to being a law-abiding citizen

- My respect for what America has endured

- My honor for what America stands for

- My remembrance of the divinity behind America’s origin

- My devotion to upholding the significance and sanctity of the family

- My sincere service to mankind and to God

I think it’s possibly the fattest-ever impossibility to uncover all of the ways that my close association with the United States of America has blessed my life. To those who mistakenly say that nothing good comes of the US of A, I plead with you to reevaluate. Hop in a time machine and study America’s history a little bit, or put your eye up to a microscope and look closely at all the tinier things that are awesomely indigenous to America. ‘Bet yer bottom dollar that you’ll swiftly discover just how wondrous your home really is.