Welcome back to Infinite Threads.
I’m your host, Bob — and today is a special episode.
It’s the 4th of July here in the United States.
A day full of fireworks and flags… of cookouts, parades, and patriotic songs.
But also — a day full of questions.
Because for many of us, this holiday carries more weight than celebration.
Not just pride, but pain.
Not just independence, but injustice that still lingers.
Not just freedom, but a reckoning with who gets to fully live in it.
And today, I want to hold all of that —
the beauty, the ache, and the hope — in one breath.
Let’s start with this:
Loving your country doesn’t mean pretending it’s perfect.
It means believing it can be better.
And if you’re like me — you believe that love is the only way forward.
Not a surface love.
Not a shallow, flag-waving kind of love.
But a love that looks injustice in the eye and says: We’re not done yet.
A love that sees division and still reaches across it.
A love that believes this country is more than its wounds…
Because of the people who are still trying to heal it.
Today isn’t just a celebration of where we’ve been.
It’s an invitation to imagine where we’re going.
Because we’re still becoming.
Still struggling.
Still learning how to be a nation that truly lives up to the words in our founding documents.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
But the truth is, we’re still working on that.
Still learning to hold those truths with honesty, humility, and heart.
And that’s okay.
Because growth — whether in a person or a people — is messy.
But if we’re willing to keep loving this country into its next becoming,
there’s still so much good ahead.
So what does that kind of love look like?
It looks like:
Holding your neighbor’s story as sacred, even if it’s different from your own.
Standing up for the rights of people you’ll never meet.
Listening, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Fighting for freedom — not just for yourself, but for everyone.
Speaking up when silence would be easier.
And believing, still, that kindness is patriotic.
That unity isn’t naïve.
That compassion is a form of strength.
Yes, we’re a divided nation.
But we are also a network of hearts.
We are not red and blue.
We are not just rural and urban, left or right.
We are parents and children.
Teachers and students.
Workers and artists.
We are neighbors.
We are caretakers.
We are people who still believe that we can make it better together.
And today — of all days — is a moment to reclaim that hope.
Not because it’s easy.
But because it’s necessary.
I’ll leave you with this:
Today is not just a holiday.
It’s a reminder.
That we are still forming a union.
That the story is not over.
That love — not hate, not fear, not cynicism — is the only force strong enough to hold us together.
So this 4th of July…
Wave your flag if you want.
Watch the fireworks.
Gather with friends and family.
But also…
Let your heart stay open.
To the work still to be done.
To the pain still to be heard.
To the healing that still waits.
And to the possibility of a more loving union —
One that begins with us.
Thanks for listening.
I’ll see you next time.
And until then —
May your love for this country be as bold as its promise…
And may you help it grow into something even more beautiful than what came before.
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