As I sit here and revel upon the beauty of where I live and watch the multiple hues of the clouds rolling by, with the quenching warmth of the rain as it drips from the brightly colored petals of the springtime flowers, I have to wonder what you would be wondering were you here.
I can imagine when you were here, that you saw a beautiful but wild country that flowed with hope and despair, with isolation and centralization, with agreeance and discordance, but you must have felt you could change the world.
When I sit and ponder what your visions for our country must have been, I believe you made enormous sacrifices for your people and country and that your differences for your opposite were handled with respect and regard and that you had the wherewithal to challenge those to do better with what they had.
One can only imagine the adversity you were faced with on a daily basis, how you saw your people enveloped within such tyranny directed from abroad, how you came together for the common good of the people, how you rose in defiance against those who meant to rule you and how you penned the most meaningful words of our country, if not our world.
Could you have ever imagined where your country would go, could you ever think it would sink so low? When you gave us our rights to bear our arms, did you ever envision it would go so far? When you set out to guarantee our Right of Free Speech, did you ever think it would get this deep? When you created our governmental branches to speak for “We the People,” could you ever have thought our voices would be muted? When you united these states did you ever believe we could be so divided?
I wonder my Forefathers if you were among us now would you not pen your words to reflect a different plight?
You see my Forefathers, as we have grown and diversified in our country there have been many changes along the way. Where we were once many and proud we are now divided and discontent. We were once proud of our flag but now many will burn it and drag it while saying “It is our freedom of speech that allows.” We once were strong with a voice for the world, but now we are reviled throughout most. We were once safe, but now we are not, neither in our own home nor across the sea.
I am sorry my Forefathers to let you know, that all what you did for us has gone awry. We would rather quarrel and stand on party lines than to do what is right most of the time. We would rather muscle others from abroad, then take care of us with the almighty above. If you have some free time and you would not mind, I among many would welcome your return, for we need your strength and absolute courage to keep many of us from being discouraged. We need your guidance and your wisdom, too, to counteract what our politicians do. If you would come we all would be there, for you were us and we are you.
In closing, if I may say that we want to believe and we want to unite, we need true leaders that will do what’s right and this we know you had the fight. We are many but can become one, united we stand but divided we fall.
Mark Fleming lives in Bigfork.