America!  America!
   God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
   From sea to shining sea!

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. – 2 Corinthians 13:11

September 11 is always a day that gives me pause. It is hard to say anything insightful or profound after all this time without sounding clichéd or inauthentic. But nonetheless I want to try. Especially when I look around and see this level of national disunity that was unthinkable in the immediate aftermath of the devastating attacks.

Why did we come together in such unity?

So I believe this is a good moment to remind ourselves of why we came together with such a profound sense of community in the fall of 2001. It wasn’t because we all suddenly agreed on politics, or that Americans were temporarily better, or nicer than we were before or have been since.

No, it was because – in that moment – we realized that partisan politics are so inconsequential when compared to the more essential commitments that define us. It was because we remembered what it is that we have in common – our love for America and the simple ideals that will always unite us if we just pay attention.

It was because, like this home we are renovating on St. Patrick Street, while things may look a mess on the outside, and there are some holes in the siding, and the porch had rotted out, and all the plumbing has been removed, and the electrician has had to start from scratch, and some of the windows just aren’t there, and there is no kitchen, and so much more… its bones are solid and it was well constructed all those years ago and the structural integrity is unimpeachable and it stands today because everybody working on it loves the idea of it and respects everything the people who first built it purposed to achieve.

When the Twin Towers came down the American Spirit rose up. But it only rose up because it was already there… in its bones… in our bones… in every one of us. It remains so today.

So let’s remember why it is that we all seem to get so hot under the collar about the less important things on the surface; it’s not because painting it red is any better than painting it blue, it’s because we have such a solid home to begin with – and we all can agree on that.

Peace, and more peace – DEREK

It’s not because painting it red is any better than painting it blue, it’s because we have such a solid home to begin with – and we all can agree on that.