The desire to leave the world in a better condition than how I found it is inseparable from my sense of patriotic duty.
As an individual who has gone through numerous wilderness journeys and seasons of adversity, the most valuable gift I’ve cultivated is personal peace. Over the years, my sense of self worth and identity have solidified from the ashes of domestic violence to becoming an advocate for justice and protection of the vulnerable. I’ve come to navigate and enjoy aspects of public life but have no desire to prove myself to the world because I am content.
But today, I am haunted by a preoccupation with something different—legacy—because I am aware that I am nearing the sunset years of my life. When I was in my twenties, I could indulge in time and had much space to explore, make mistakes and try again. Now, time is a gift that requires sacred stewardship. My priorities now pertain to completing my life mission and finishing well to leave behind something I could say was meaningful.
Perhaps I’m being over-dramatic to start thinking about finishing well at age 51, but I’ve learned that life has many unexpected twists and turns and no one knows when it’s time to go or for how long one's faculties will remain in tact. Besides, finishing well requires planning and focus.
The desire to leave the world in a better condition than how I found it is inseparable from my sense of patriotic duty. I know what it’s like to live in a world that is unsafe and one where you’re more aware of life’s limitations than its possibilities. I don’t want any child, youth or adult to live in that kind of world. I want to leave behind a good country for the next generation so it’s safe, full of hope and opportunities.
Impactful patriotism requires courage that overflows from a bountiful reserve of love.
Throughout my pilgrimage as a patriot, I’ve observed that pride in one's nation doesn’t always translate to sacrifice or rolling up one’s sleeves to fix the problems. Talk is cheap. Action is what gets things done. In times of calamity, famine or threat, action is a requirement.
But impactful patriotism requires courage that overflows from a bountiful reserve of love. It’s not enough to merely fight for a principle or a noble cause. The people must be the cause because without concern for the people, there’s little impetus to overcome the challenges that often accompany patriotic pursuits. Defeat ends with bitter resignation when love is absent from a cause. But setbacks and defeat are met with perseverance and hope when one’s love for people surpasses one’s duty to principle.
True patriotism is care for the people of one's nation, and authentic concern for their flourishing and future. The way I imagine children keeping their parents up at night, the concerns of a nation can make the patriot sleepless. When love is generous and unconditional, courageous sacrifice follows. This is patriotic love.
I had to relearn how to love unconditionally many times during the pandemic when I served as Member of Parliament. It was necessary to do so in order for me to get past the anger and rough slurs of hurting, oppressed folks and help them get through their crisis.
Additionally, you don’t really learn how to love until you have to forgive someone. I’ve had to forgive many people in life. I have to forgive people everyday as I walk in the political sphere. It’s a requirement to protect your heart and patriotism from getting contaminated by bitterness and vengeance.
Democracy is only as effective as the moral compass that guides it.
Most proud patriots look to democracy as the pillar of a great nation. I couldn’t agree more. But democracy is only as effective as the moral compass that guides it. Without a moral compass of love, integrity, justice and faithfulness, democracy is merely a structural platform for the arrogant and power hungry to exploit, thrive and build their empires of dust—at the people's expense.
Without respect and honour, democracy is an excuse to perpetuate vitriol, abuse and a toxic political culture.
Democracy should unify people with differing views and ideologies on the premise of respect for each other's freedom. It takes self-assurance and humility to accept another person's right to their beliefs, especially when they challenge your own. Democracy can be messy. It demands commitment between entities in conflict to work through hurts, complexities and misunderstandings until respect has the final word.
Our democracy must be safeguarded by a larger vision of patriotic love, sacrifice and accountability throughout our system. Otherwise our nation remains vulnerable to division, broken trust and chaos. There is no soil more fertile than this kind for our democracy to weaken and for hostile foreign actors to exploit such vulnerabilities.
Unity safeguards our democracy.
So what kind of democracy shall we pass along to the next generation?
That all depends on how we each accept our part.
We must all personally assess our own patriotism and determine if we are strengthening our nation's democracy or weakening it. Then we must each hold ourselves accountable to a standard for which our fallen heroes and war veterans sacrificed themselves. Their concern for the future and well-being of their fellow humans transcended their instinct for personal survival. They set aside their personal aspirations and even their families for a cause beyond their own benefit. This is love, loyalty, humility, duty and honour in action.
We must at minimum, pass along the standard of the democracy we inherited.
But true patriot love requires we pass along more than what we received.
True patriot love almost always requires sacrifice.
What is your sacrifice?
Lest we forget.