I recently was honored to attend a Naturalization Ceremony, where 201 new citizens of the United States took the oath of citizenship.
201 new citizens take the Oath of Citizenship
Many of them had the opportunity to speak about their experience of becoming a citizen and why it was important. Themes of family, freedom, opportunity, religion and a desire to have their voice matter were spoken of with emotion. These were the things that truely mattered the most.
It comes down to people, their health, happiness and well-being. That means looking out for each other, supporting each other, treating people with kindness and decency. We are all in this together. We live in a nation that is uniquely suited to build better people, if we will work together and cooperate.
My dear freind and her family have come to this country to escape the killing and terror that has swept through their villages in East Africa. I am so grateful for the lessons they have given to me about loving my children, savoring the peace and tranquility of my garden, and working hard to make my neighborhood a better place.
Often, it is easy to get buried in the work of the day and lose sight of the things that matter. In all of our efforts to wordsmith a mission statement or identify messages that matter, are we really finding the messages that matter? There are things that are nice and interesting, other things that are important and other things that are essential. All of those things are significant in their own ways.
I guess what I am hoping is that next time I become passionate enough to fight for something, be it a process, content topic or issue, I hope I can avoid steamroller techniqes and be thoughful enough to recognize what really matters.
Please join me in remembering what matters most.
