I am imaging the days some 250 years ago when the passion and fervor of patriotism had to be shared without the benefit of electronic devices. The closest they had to Twitter was the bugle or the church bell. Facebook–maybe a newspaper or one of the infamous bulletins. And yet. and yet…somehow groups of men and women articulated their patriotism, their passion for freedom, their tolerance, and their faith, and turned that passion into action and our country’s foundation. Imagine—talking with one another, picking up a pen and converting ideas to inked words, riding for days to inspire and be inspired. Yet they all pulled together and harmonized their differences: extreme right vs extreme left; federalist vs anti-federalist; church of the state vs church of the community; and many more differences for the common good of the many…and the few. This “thing,” this American concept of country and self that those brave souls founded, probably isn’t right for everyone, is certainly not a one size fits all, but the opportunities for peace, prosperity and more, truly abound in this place we call America. From the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”One evening I was wandering about and stopped (again) at the Pohick Church. George Washington worshipped there (among other places) and he memorialized this prayer about the United States. The photo is of a Revolutionary War gravesite.