Reader #1: I am a nation birthed from a yearning to breathe free. I am freedom’s shore. I came hundreds of years ago to find a haven where I could worship my God.
Reader #2: I found hunger, disease, and fear. I suffered torturous winters and sweltering summers, but the walls of a dictator no longer consumed me. I was free, and the freedom that I felt was worth the struggle. I died a thousand deaths to keep my freedom.
Reader #3: I was seized by ship, hunted like a wild animal across the barren beaches of my eastern coast. I was beaten, hanged, and buried, but not defeated. Never defeated . . .
Reader #4: I was brought here not by choice. I was shipped to this land by men who bought and sold me like cattle. A slave—I had no choice. I had no ownership, but my heart dreamed of a day when freedom would sing my name. I lived only for the promise of the fiery chariot that would take me to a land of true freedom. And now after centuries of struggle and destitution, I too am this nation. Once kidnapped by it, now a part of it.
Reader #5: I heard of the millions being slaughtered in gas chambers and concentration camps, and I ruthlessly sought to destroy the villains who would commit such atrocities. I am a hero. I had mercy upon those who had no mercy on me.
Reader #6: I have seen the scandal, humiliation, triumph, and assassination of my leaders. I have longed for freedom and yet have abused the very tools of its making. I have killed the innocent, murdered the wise, and ignored the poets of each generation. Still, in my heart is a hope that has never diminished, a hope that was rooted on my day of birth. I have pledged my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor on that hope that I will be free. Will I seek not only peace and freedom, but also the Author of peace and freedom? Only God can say, for it is He who must be sought, and if I do not seek Him, I will never know.
Reader #7: I am Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, and King. But I should never forget that I am also Lee Harvey Oswald, Charles Manson, and Al Capone.
Reader #1: I will only rise if I am willing to fall.
Reader #2: To fall to my knees
Reader #3: and recognize the God that brought me here.
Reader #4: I am the best and the worst of man.
All: I am America.
wordspring creative 