I keep gnawing on this concept that the United States is more idea than geography. It is really important for us to pay attention to, to name, to remember and we just don’t pay the Idea of who are its due.

Think about it. The pilgrims, the slaves, the convicts, those fleeing famine and political unrest, those fleeing persecution ended up here. Why? It wasn’t to be with other British or Irish or Poles or Jews, Chinese or – well, you get the idea. Africans were enslaved and brought here against their will but ended up, however tragically, a part of the great experiment, the great idea.

Everyone who comes here comes from a place where their geography defines their history, nationality, worldview, and politics. Why do they come? Why do they leave home and hearth, generations of memories, and a world of shared experiences?

They come because of an idea. Or in the case of those who came against their will, they hope for the future because of an idea.

That’s who we are. We are an idea. An ever-expanding idea of justice, self-government, equality, and freedom. We often get it wrong. Mostly because of where we’ve come from or where we’ve been. We crave freedom and fear it at the same time. We lust after justice and worry that justice for others will diminish us. Not so much because we are bad but because we are human.

Well, some of us are bad. Some of us hate. Some of us live in fear. Some of us have made the United States about geography. Our idea is supposed to temper and guard against that. But that is NOT who we are.

We are Cajun and Irish, Italian and Jewish, Chinese and Vietnamese, Thai and Pilipino. We are English and German, French and African. Bangladeshi and Indian. We all came from a place (or our ancestors did) to an idea.

And we need to remind ourselves every day. Religious freedom, personal freedom, freedom of speech and expression. Self governance – the idea the world thought would fail (please don’t let it be this year that it does!). Equality. An idea that does not and cannot remain stagnant but that must be expanded every time it is challenged by people who are oppressed.

Black Lives Matter doesn’t just challenge the racism in this country, it challenges us to remember, buy into, and own the IDEA of who we claim to be as a nation.

We are based on some really, really good ideas. Our founding documents are sacred in their intent. It is often difficult to enter an idea with preconceptions and prejudices of the past, but not impossible. It is our task. Our work. Our future. Our duty and our calling, in each generation, to live into the promises of the ideas this nation is founded on.

Don’t be the generation that allows our sacred ideas of freedom, justice, and self-governance to die.

I just read Eric Metaxas most recent book, If You Can Keep It: the forgotten promise of American Liberty. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Metaxas reminds us that we are a nation based on the ideas of liberty and justice and, at the time of our inception, the unthinkable notion of self-governance. This link to his recent blog posting will give you a taste of his perspective: http://ericmetaxas.com/blog/few-passionate-thoughts-america/

In the current election cycle we are reaping the ignorance of major portions of our citizenry. We are not a nation conceived by ethnicity, geography, religious affiliation or shared history. We are based on the fundamental ideas of human liberty and justice. Yes, we fall short. Often and horribly. But our arc is one that, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us, bends toward justice. We have a base line to return to, a vision pushing us forward, an innate valuing of justice and freedom that counters our urges for simpler more ‘manageable’ ways. We forget that self-governance is a relatively new idea in human history and that ours is based on those difficult, beautiful, and unmanageable ideas of freedom and justice.

I took Civics in the eighth grade from a very boring teacher who was, himself, bored. But I am profoundly grateful for the lessons internalized. I learned how our system of government works and why we created our system of government. As an adult I am able to engage with a deeper understanding and love for this messy system. When others see it as ‘not working’ I see it as working. It doesn’t work is when the actors in the system have no understanding or appreciation for our political character. Obstructionism is not in our character. Limiting freedoms is not in our character. Refusing to seek justice for people of different races, religions, sexualities, genders, and ethnicity is out of our character. It may be who we are in any given historical moment, but it is out of line with the vision of who we are called to be as a nation.

Those who are not familiar with the ideas on which this nation was founded cannot be called back to the vision. These ideas stretch us as human beings to act from, as Joe Biden reminded us, ‘our better angels’. As a nation we cannot act purely out of self-interest. At times it may be  who we are but it is not who we are meant to be.

So here is my call for mandatory civics classes. Classed where we learn to urge everyone to vote- even those who disagree with us – because we know voting is a higher calling than political affiliation. Civics class is where we learn the that this nation is based a commitment to ever expanding our understandings of  liberty and justice. Civics class is where we learn about the checks and balance system that limits the power of any one part or our government.

Everyone who participates in our political process needs a thorough understanding of not only the system by which we govern ourselves but also to the values on which our system is based. Civics class gave me what is often referred to as a ‘buy in’ to the profound process of self-governance. I want that for the generations to follow.

Dear Bernie,

I’m not going to be very popular when I say this, but I am pissed at you. Here’s the thing, when you come into a group and work for change, when you get a seat at the table, when your influence is felt in every facet of the party, then you need *f—king* stay and do the work.

I was so proud of you and our party at the beginning of this election cycle. You and Hillary were able to state your cases without trashing one another. You refused to descend into name-calling. I listened to your ideas and hers and was pleased when my party moved closer to its progressive roots. I felt like we couldn’t lose no matter who one the nomination.

Now I wonder. Now I am thinking of all the bills you didn’t sponsor in your 30 years in the Senate. I’m remembering when I gave you a pass on some issues that are important to me because I thought you could be moved along, much in the way Hillary’s policies moved to the left. Whichever way things went it was clear that we would be working to find common ground on the places we disagree.

You came in and shook up the party. Great! I mean it. This nation needs two strong, opposing points of view to move us to find ‘a third way’. We lost our strength in those kinds of negotiations when we moved further and further to the right of center. It’s kind of like we had a reboot. I thank you for that, Bernie.

BUT YOU NEED TO STAY AND DO THE WORK. I was part of an organization in which energetic and well-meaning people stepped in, made large decisions that affected the very existence of the organization… and then left without doing the work of the things they set in motion. I resent that you are doing the same thing. You are not taking responsibility for your actions.

Actually, I am glad you are not the nominee because we need someone who will do the work. The tough, boring work of brokering change. Speeches are moving. Ideas transcend. But if  you are not willing to work with people with disparate points of view, if you are not willing to walk the long, tedious walk required, then you just used us.

We deserve better than that.