Tonight I watched the State of the Union Address. I delighted in the unity portrayed. Certainly there were vast differences in opinions present. But one thing was clear. Love was there. Love for the American idea, and love for those who live and espouse the American idea. Deep reverence and respect for individuals and institutions of government and society were evident. Creativity and imagination triumphed over contentious thought. It was for me a “spot of time” to be remembered when debate will seem to suggest that we live in a house divided. There will always be lots of noise in our democracy, but no, the house is not divided on the essentials of liberty and the love for it or for the disciplines required to keep it vital.
From Wordsworth’s The Prelude (1805 edition):
There are in our existence spots of time,
That with distinct pre-eminence retain
A renovating virtue, whence–depressed
By false opinion and contentious thought,
Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight,
In trivial occupations, and the round
Of ordinary intercourse–our minds
Are nourished and invisibly repaired;
A virtue, by which pleasure is enhanced,
That penetrates, enables us to mount,
When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen.
