Hilemanhouse
07-21-2008, 12:45 AM
We are Americans
Carolyn Hileman
http://thevoice.name/?p=9603
Do you remember how you felt on 9/11? The feeling of dread, the feeling of there was really nothing you could do? The feeling of anger that you couldn’t even tell your kids everything would be OK and know it was true? I am willing to bet that a lot of you are feeling those same things today. You are feeing battered, beaten down, worn out, you wonder how you will pay your bills, how you will buy your groceries and gas and you are just plain tired. It is a different kind of apprehension but apprehension all the same, you feel like your country and you are under attack all over again and you are not really sure what putting out your flag will do for you now.
If you remember those days afterwards when where ever you looked there was a flag, then you remember the feeling of pride that you felt inside, you remember the feeling of solidarity, the feeling of no matter what your fellow citizens were in this battle with you. We need that feeling again; we need to see those flags showing up everywhere, peeking out of windows, hastily drawn and colored stuck with tape on any surface they could find, flying from car windows, draped over the pentagon, every where you looked you saw American resolve, and America needs that resolve today.
We were told in the days, months and years afterwards that we were offending other countries, we were told we were showing favoritism, we were told not to be so, so, so American and the flags started disappearing and with it the solidarity, the feeling of community, the feeling of pride and then we were beaten down so many times, in so many ways that we dare not look up for fear that the shining light on the hill had gone out. That shining light is still there, it is in the heart of every single American citizen that wishes to see it, that light is fueled by the patriotism, the heart and soul of every single American citizen that holds it so dear.
We are that light shining at the top of that hill; I know we may have dimmed over time, our light may have gotten a little weaker with each blow but that light is still there, just like the flag is still there. We have a choice to make today and that choice is do we simply stay hiding so the next blow might miss us, or do we dust off our flags, add fuel to the fire and stand up once again as the proud Americans we should be. The choice is yours and mine and it affects every single generation that comes behind us. Who are we? What are we made of? Do we bow to the oil barons over seas? Do we drill here at home, keep our money at home, keep the jobs here at home and never ever have to wonder how much they will charge us again? Do we demand solar energy options and financing so that the average American can afford to go solar if that is their wish?
America is known for her innovation, her people known innovators, we take a backseat to no one, we are Americans. In those dark days after 9/11, we found a resolve we did not even know we had, we will find it again, and we will rise up from this just like we did then. Our best days are far from over; our flags are still a reminder of that. There is not any other people like us, not another country that can ever be as great as us, we are the people who fought for our freedom once before and still have the resolve to do it again, we are Americans.
Carolyn Hileman
http://thevoice.name/?p=9603
Do you remember how you felt on 9/11? The feeling of dread, the feeling of there was really nothing you could do? The feeling of anger that you couldn’t even tell your kids everything would be OK and know it was true? I am willing to bet that a lot of you are feeling those same things today. You are feeing battered, beaten down, worn out, you wonder how you will pay your bills, how you will buy your groceries and gas and you are just plain tired. It is a different kind of apprehension but apprehension all the same, you feel like your country and you are under attack all over again and you are not really sure what putting out your flag will do for you now.
If you remember those days afterwards when where ever you looked there was a flag, then you remember the feeling of pride that you felt inside, you remember the feeling of solidarity, the feeling of no matter what your fellow citizens were in this battle with you. We need that feeling again; we need to see those flags showing up everywhere, peeking out of windows, hastily drawn and colored stuck with tape on any surface they could find, flying from car windows, draped over the pentagon, every where you looked you saw American resolve, and America needs that resolve today.
We were told in the days, months and years afterwards that we were offending other countries, we were told we were showing favoritism, we were told not to be so, so, so American and the flags started disappearing and with it the solidarity, the feeling of community, the feeling of pride and then we were beaten down so many times, in so many ways that we dare not look up for fear that the shining light on the hill had gone out. That shining light is still there, it is in the heart of every single American citizen that wishes to see it, that light is fueled by the patriotism, the heart and soul of every single American citizen that holds it so dear.
We are that light shining at the top of that hill; I know we may have dimmed over time, our light may have gotten a little weaker with each blow but that light is still there, just like the flag is still there. We have a choice to make today and that choice is do we simply stay hiding so the next blow might miss us, or do we dust off our flags, add fuel to the fire and stand up once again as the proud Americans we should be. The choice is yours and mine and it affects every single generation that comes behind us. Who are we? What are we made of? Do we bow to the oil barons over seas? Do we drill here at home, keep our money at home, keep the jobs here at home and never ever have to wonder how much they will charge us again? Do we demand solar energy options and financing so that the average American can afford to go solar if that is their wish?
America is known for her innovation, her people known innovators, we take a backseat to no one, we are Americans. In those dark days after 9/11, we found a resolve we did not even know we had, we will find it again, and we will rise up from this just like we did then. Our best days are far from over; our flags are still a reminder of that. There is not any other people like us, not another country that can ever be as great as us, we are the people who fought for our freedom once before and still have the resolve to do it again, we are Americans.