Like millions of people around the
world, I enjoy watching the Olympics. While I may not watch every event, I am
still awed by the pageantry and the astonishing abilities of the athletes who
are chosen to represent their countries.
When I was younger, I never gave the symbols
of the Olympics much thought. I was caught up in the competition as I rooted
our American athletes on from the comfort of my living room. I believed the
games were about athletic excellence and winning medals. Now that I’m north of
forty, I know the true meaning of the games is indeed unity.
As Americans we like to say
there’s no “I” in team but while we impress this upon our athletes, we don’t
impress it upon our politicians. In the Declaration of Independence our
founders said "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.” The founders recognized that although we were a
nation of individuals, we were a united nation.
This is taken a step further by
our Pledge of Allegiance, which says in part,: "I pledge allegiance to the
Flag of the United States of
America, and to the Republic for which it
stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The word, indivisible jumps off
the page, as it means not divisible; unable to be divided or separated.
Currently the state of our nation is anything but inseparable. One of the great
aspects of America
has been our willingness to engage in thoughtful political debates. Although
many had (and still have) opposing political views, we remained dignified and
respectful of the political process.
Now we have dissolved into a
nation of political pit bulls engaged in a national dog fight over everything
from gay marriage, health care and taxes to who are real Americans and where
the real Americans live. Then there is the great economic divide of the haves,
the have nots and the have plenty but still want mores. It seems the
politicians, media and super rich are there to throw one piece of meat into the
ring for the rest of us to fight over so we don’t notice that there’s plenty of
meat outside of the ring. I am aware that I’m over simplifying it but there
aren’t enough hours in the day to break it down. I suspect that the tone of
political discourse in this country has led many people to vote for the next
American Idol en masse instead of heading to the polls to vote for issues and
candidates that will actually affect their lives. It’s one of the reasons I
believe the Olympics are important.
Though great tragedies like 9/11,
Hurricane Katrina and the shootings in Aurora, Colorado have both united and
brought out the best in many people, the Olympics allows us to unite as a
nation to bask in the pride of sending our best athletes onto the field of play
to represent the best of us with tears of joy, not tears of sorrow. We’re also
reminded our best goes far beyond the participants. They are supported by
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, daughters and sons who
sacrifice so they can achieve their goal of Olympic glory. All Americans can
relate to this sacrifice as every generation has done the same so that the next
will do a little better. It’s the basis of the American dream. Regardless of
whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, my deepest hope is that we take time
to hit the reset button and concentrate on the real issues that affect all of
us, which in essence haven’t changed since the Declaration of Independence was
written. All and not some of us have the right to live our lives, the freedom
to choose how we live and to pursue happiness.
