The Genius of the American Soul
Yesterday as I watched John McCain's funeral, I was reminded of what it means to live in an America with a soul...and naturally Jon Meacham's book came to mind. Living in a democracy with soul means that leaders from both sides of the aisle, from different parties and political persuasions, can stand up and laud a hero and a statesman just as Barack Obama and George Bush did yesterday. Living in a democracy with soul means that the daughter of a fallen soldier can cry from the pulpit as she acts out her pain and sorrow over the loss of her daddy and her hero just as Meghan McCain did. And living in a democracy with soul means that as Endicott Peabody is quoted in Meacham's book,
"Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights - then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward; that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has as upward trend."
Such is life in this Great American Democracy with Soul in which we live and move and have our being.