07/05/2026
"America at 250"
Two hundred fifty candles
cannot hide the cracks in the glass.
They only prove
that light has always found a way through.
We have argued beneath one flag,
prayed in different voices,
marched for justice,
stood for freedom,
fallen, risen, and begun again.
The wind still carries the promises
of those who dreamed before us.
Not because they were perfect,
but because they believed
that tomorrow could become kinder than today.
Patriotism is not blind applause.
It is the courage to love a nation
enough to mend its broken places,
to defend its highest ideals,
and to leave its next chapter
stronger than the last.
Today, the fireworks do more than celebrate.
They remind us that even after darkness,
the sky still chooses light.
May our disagreements never outweigh
our common humanity.
May liberty never become ordinary.
May justice continue its unfinished journey.
May hope remain our loudest anthem.
At two hundred fifty years,
America is still becoming;
not a finished masterpiece,
but a canvas that each generation
is entrusted to paint.
So let us raise our voices,
our hands,
our hearts.
For the dream is not behind us.
It is waiting
for what we choose to become together.
Happy 250th Birthday, America.
