My wife and I were traveling this week taking some vacation to visit our son and his wife who are stationed at the Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia. We had a good week with them and got to see a lot of the Virginia area where this country began.

Their apartment is nice but not in the best of areas. They are young and just getting started. I remember our first apartment was not in the best of areas either. The area they are in, as is prevalent with most military base apartment complexes, is a mixing ground for people from all walks of life.

Being there with them while so much was transpiring in our nation and taking the time to walk through historic James Town and Williamsburg was…in a word…frustrating.

Our American history is peppered with both great justice and great injustice. We have been the world’s melting pot and proud to be so. However, there have been so many times in our history when this has proven both the greatest of our strengths and the greatest of our weaknesses.

My father taught me one predominate golden rule over all others, maybe aside from “love God”. He would tell me frequently, and my children have grown up hearing it from me because it is a truism that should not be refuted, “You are no better nor no worse than any other man (or woman).”

As such, through the years I have striven to treat all people with equality, those words ringing in my ears.

So much separates us as human beings; Race, creed, social status, economic status, the brand of our car, our clothing, our colors….

Growing up the way I did, becoming the man I am, raising our children the way we have, having the friends I have had, working as a Chaplain where I have, none of this ever mattered.

I don’t care who you are, where you came from, how much we differ, I am no better nor no worse than you.

Will I stand up for my family if threatened by ANY man? Yes. Will I stand by your side and do my best to protect you as well? Yes. There is nothing that comes into these decisions from the above list other than this; You are a human being, loved by God and worthy of respect.

Do I feel that I have been privileged? Probably. But not because of what I am. But because of what I have done. What I stood for all these years. And only through Grace and hard work.

I did not get to finish college. I got married and went to work. Not because I had to but because that was what I chose to do. Thus, I worked for where I am today. Hard. Many hours, much lost time with my family. Taking far too few days off.

I suspect you have too.

I started life with $2000 in my pocket that was supposed to pay for my college due to a mistake made when I was a child with a college fund that was not my fathers fault.

I made it a few years on that sum, along with working a night job while going to school when I got a break on a job in Dallas my sister lined up an interview for. I got married pretty soon after and my wife went to school and I began my career and never finished college.

I say this because we all have back-stories in our lives. We all have situations we have overcome. Yes, there are the truly privileged, the wealthy and the powerful. I have met many of them and learned one resounding truth; power and privileged are typically nothing more than a temporary and fleeting balm.

Those who strove for a higher purpose were the ones who were happy. This holds true for all men, regardless of status. When we strive for only ourselves then our purposes are all just selfish. That may seem an obvious and redundant statement, but many need to hear it. It is only when we strive for our brother, for those who need a hand that we begin to feel connected and a part of our common society.

Each of us has a story. Each of us has a part to play. Each of us has the necessity to lift each other up. Only then can we truly begin to come together and be great again “one Nation, under God, Indivisible”.

I pray for our nation.

I pray for our people.