America: Remembering the Good while Taking on the Bad

The week of Independence Day always makes me reflect on the state of things in America.  Like many, there are so many changes I would like to see.  Just to name a few:

• I would love to see changes in policy and law around guns, mental health, abortion, and immigration.  
• I would love to see more money go towards public education and public health insurance, enabling meaningful reforms. 
• I would love it if the population of our country was kinder and more empathetic, more thoughtful and less reactive, more solution-oriented rather than polarized.  I would love it if *I* was more of all the good things and less of all the bad things.
• I agree with the movements  #FamiliesBelongTogether and  #BlackLivesMatter and would like to see progress made on these fronts.

But.  I think it's also important to remember all the GOOD we have in America.  Again, just to name a few (and the disclaimer that I'm not saying there are zero problems in these areas):

• I can put up Facebook posts about all the things the government is getting wrong and not have someone show up at my door and arrest me.  I can call a Congressman directly and tell him I don't like how he voted on an issue, and he'll write me a letter thanking me for my opinion. 
• I can assemble with my fellow Christians at our house of worship or at a barbeque and no one tries to stop us.
• We have a safety net to help people meet survival needs.  
• Because many of us have our survival needs met, we are able to think about things besides just how to survive, like how to make our country better for all people.  
• The law enforcement agents and courts don't take bribes, and they don't work only for the rich.  Violent crimes are prosecuted.  
• We have free public education guaranteed for everyone, and we have many of the finest universities in the world.
• Libraries!!
• Our health care system can take on extremely complex problems and save many lives that couldn't be saved at any other time or place in history.  (But when the bill comes, I'll boot that up to the list of challenges above.)
• Our tech innovators are coming up with amazing solutions to make life better and to solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
• We have spectacular natural features, and parks that are dedicated to preserving this nature.
• We have time and public spaces for leisure activities.

I write both of these lists because I think it's so easy for all of us, myself included, to drift into thinking either that America is *all* bad or it's *all* good.  It's hard to hold simultaneous mental space for both the blessings and the challenges.  But I think both are really important - remembering the good keeps us grateful for what we have, and remembering the bad motivates us to be better. 

Happy birthday, America!  I'm grateful to live in this country, grateful that we have the freedoms to fight to make it better, and hope to see positive change as time marches on.