Being able to understand what America has done in the past, what it is doing now, and what her future will be has been an on-going discovery for me. Since there are no real endings in this world, this discovery is precious to my heart, mind, and soul. Until we are able to tell the truth about what America has done, is doing, and will do, we will not honor anyone who sacrificed for us and paid the supreme price.
It may take a law to make the CRT, Critical Race Theory, illegal in our country, because only when we make it illegal in our Constitutions will all people be considered equal. Our children will never learn right from wrong if they do not know the truth about America’s history, and the things we do not want them to understand will happen again. We cannot teach our children values only to withdraw them when they want to do something we are afraid of them doing.
My parents taught me many things, and one of those things was that there is charity in giving what you can. There is also charity, kindnesses, in teaching your children that wisdom is a very powerful gift. When we learn to put our differences aside and concentrate on our similarities as Americans, we will truly know the meaning of solidarity and what it is to give when we have nothing to give.
Just like Hannah Pick-Gosler in her book, “My Friend Anne Frank,” Americans need to light our candles to remember God’s gifts, His loving miracles, and His gift of forgiveness. No matter how dark things are, there is always the hope of forgiveness and God’s light to lead us home. Many American parents have symbolically orphaned their children, because they are negating their responsibilities as parents; that loss is becoming forever implanted in our children’s hearts. Their basic sense of security is being slowly stolen, and the ground underneath their feet is becoming unstable.
I am looking forward to returning home in two weeks because the trip will remind me of who I am, what I should be, and why I need to keep changing in a positive way. I must dare to look at things from a different perspective. I will not live my life in quiet desperation but in joyful anticipation. I do not wish to be ordinary because that would make me unremarkable. In the wisdom of my parents, there is a time to be daring and time to be cautious. A wise man knows when daring is necessary and when caution is a better direction to solve his problems. Paraphrasing Robert Frost, when I came to the fork in the road, “I took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference.”
I realize that I am but one candle in a whole host of other American candles, but I am one powerful light in the world. The ground I walk on is solid because my parents raised me to be a faithful and intelligent human being. The power of God’s love lies deep within me and guides me in my life’s decisions. I will not stop learning about America’s history because that is my most powerful weapon against all who are trying to bring our democracy down. To the best of my ability, I will strive to teach my students the truth about America, and they will grow to honor those who have made the supreme sacrifice for us.
One day, my students will be asked to decide between right and wrong, to be daring or cautious, to be loving or hateful, to take their light from beneath the basket and let it shine for God’s light. And maybe like Robert Frost’s poem, they, too, will take the road less traveled and will be the difference in all of our lives.
Anna Hartt
