250 years Later, The Experiment Rolls On

​Today is the birthday of an experiment far more than of a nation.

Certainly it is a great day to celebrate that the experiment is still going, but it is also a great day to evaluate the health of the experiment.

Evaluate not just from a macro view—as in how is our country as a whole doing with this experiment—even though that's an important question to examine.

But it's also a great day do to some self-reflection. A great day to ask, how am I treating the experiment, and how am I preparing it for the next generation?

Too many people answer that self-reflection by a vote. As if voting and even making the "correct" vote is what the experiment most asks of us.

Voting matters....

But I believe this grand experiment begs reflection well beyond what one perceives of their obligation or right to vote. It begs us to ask ourselves:

Do I actively seek peaceful co-existence with people I disagree with?

Do I exercise the powers I have in my life responsibly? (Because power is not exclusive to the elected—many of us have influence at the family and community level we fail to acknowledge).

And yet, when it DOES come to elected power, am I a voice for keeping those powers in check?

And finally, and maybe the biggest one, do I pursue my own interests without losing sight of the good of others?

One of the fascinating things about the American experiment is that its founding documents contain both a description of what the country was and an aspiration for what it hoped to become. Aspirations that have given reformers, activists, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens like you and me a language to call the nation toward something better.

It is very easy to read the headlines and watch your favorite side of the news and determine whether or not the country is moving toward the call of something better.

But maybe equally important—if not MORE important—is determining if "I" am moving toward the call of something better.

On my personal birthday each year, I find myself reflecting on what I want to make of the rest of my life. As we spend the day celebrating our nation's birthday, and this grand experiment, I think that's an equally useful reflection.

For we celebrate the experiment today, but it will continue on tomorrow.

So, what do I want to make of it?