The history of America is filled with instances in which national pride has become activated in the presence of a noble cause that needed to be met, or at a time of trial in which people drew together to mourn collectively and to comfort each other collectively. These are the times when nations exhibit some of their best and noblest capacities for love, healing, and the communication of hope to those who are bereaved.

However, there are also times, and we are in one today, when America's people have not come together in unity, when separation and division have prevailed and government practices have drifted far away from high idealism. Such a time causes many to become disenchanted not only with the country and its esteemed values, but with the concept of America herself. Today, instead of picturing her as the nation whose gifts were meant to create spiritual bounty for the world, America is increasingly seen by others and sometimes by her own as a marauder that robs and pillages other nations while seeking to acquire goods and resources for herself. That is the America that many in the world see today, not the America of dignity, love, and compassion.

It is all too true that individuals within a population, while they make up the body of the republic, often have little to say about how their feelings shall be represented in practice. During some epochs in history, the feelings and wishes of a nation have carried forth governmental policy into credible actions taken in the world. Yet, during other epochs, including the one we are presently in, policies made in high places that have a huge effect on both the population of this country and on the world as a whole have little input from the American public. Instead, these policies are shaped by a collection of a few powerful individuals who have their own feelings and vision of what America should become.

The return of dignity to America lies in the reestablishment of her policies and practices, based on the ideals that she holds in her heart and in her historical foundation. These ideals do not permit the kind of concentration of power that is so visible today, nor do they permit the kind of separation of the governing from the governed which is the most visible example of the presence of runaway power. In addition, a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people," cannot be present when many are willing to actually ignore what is happening as the basic fundaments of democracy are being stripped away. This erosion is not a matter of a single catastrophic action that takes place in a nation which visibly and directly abridges civil liberties or creates a flagrant abuse of power. It happens in the middle of the night, in the silence of uncertain observers who both see and do not see what is occurring. It happens while individuals who compose a nation sleep their sleep and dream their dreams, not suspecting that tragedy is going to befall them, indeed, is already befalling them. It happens when many are not paying attention.

This nation, that has been the source of so many right actions and the recipient of so many blessings, both practical and spiritual, must rise from its nighttime bed of unconsciousness, from its willingness to remain asleep, and must open its eyes to prevent a further deterioration of democratic principle. Only in this way can the process of government by the governed be reinstated as a fact, not just as an idea. And only in this way can those who are presently sacrificing their lives in the name of American ideals come to recognize that these ideals have become tarnished and have separated themselves from the truth that lies at the foundation of American patriotism and at the center of America's heart. It is to this patriotism and to this unified heart that we must return, and there is not a moment too soon for this to happen.