Our Rights …

Our rights? They don’t come from men in robes or marble halls. They’re not handed out like candy for good behavior. They come from God, pure and unearned. Life. Liberty. Joy that doesn’t depend on approval. The Founders said it, but grace said it first: you’re born with these. Not because you’re worthy. Because you’re loved.

But we forget. We build systems that forget. We write laws that forget. America’s story is stained with that forgetfulness. Even with the right documents, we’ve been wrong. We say all are created equal, then act like some were created less.

And yet, the dream survives. Not in the halls of power, but in the streets. In the protests. In the whispered prayers of the brokenhearted who still believe. America listens, slowly and clumsily, to those who refuse to let go.

We’re not great because we got it right. We’re not great because we’re good. We’re great, if at all, because we keep trying. Because the ragged still rise and remind us: this promise wasn’t ours to hoard. It was always meant to be shared.

– Michael Peabody