Jimmy Buffett wrote and performs a song (referenced in this column before) about looking back as he celebrates a new birthday each year, prompting thoughts of the last year and what was done productively, what was not, how the good things that went well can be built upon, and how the not so good things can be tweaked to become productive the next year. The song is titled, “Trip around the Sun.”

Well, this coming Tuesday, America will celebrate the beginning of its 241st trip around the sun, and Americans can look back at a rather bumpy 240th orbit around the closet star to earth, highlighted by the Presidential Election and change in power in our nation’s capital.

If we look at the lyrics of Jimmy Buffett’s song, early in the tune he sings,

“Here I’m singing Happy Birthday, better think about the wish I make,

This year gone by ain’t been a piece of cake.”

Later in the song, the words expressed are:

“No you never see it comin’, always wondering where it went,

Only time will tell if it was time well spent.

It’s another revelation, celebrating what I should have done,

With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun.”

As we sing Happy Birthday to America this Tuesday, and as we are festive with food, drink, picnics, parades, sparklers and fireworks, and celebrate America’s end of this trip around the sun and look forward to the beginning of the next one, what wishes will we make? What hopes will we have for the upcoming year in terms of what we can do to build on things that have gone well in our country? How will we evaluate for improvement what may have not gone so well? Also, what then can we do to improve on those things that might not have gone well, and attempt to make America regain some of what made this, undeniably at one time, the greatest country in the world? Many might feel that “this year gone by ain’t been a piece of cake,” and that ours isn’t the greatest country in the world right at this very moment.

I think it is safe to wonder if all that has happened in America recently has been good, or positive, or if it is an occasion to ponder if, maybe, we should have done something different with the “souvenirs” of recent happenings, and wonder if, maybe celebrations, rather than disagreements, might have been more frequent if we did. Not sure our evaluation of the year passed would prove to be considered a year well spent.

When our forefathers sat in Philadelphia these near 2.5 centuries ago, and talked, and argued, and may have even been perceived by some as being treasonous, they did so, most with intent of creating a new nation, separated from the tyranny of King George, and one allowing its citizens the guarantees of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

I was always taught that if someone gives you something, you have a responsibility to appreciate it through words first (saying “Thank You”), and by showing that appreciation through actions and deeds, and this includes working together for the common good of all who fall under the canopy of beliefs which have been originated by those who then gave them to you in the first place.

Yes, there were arguments and disagreements among our forefathers as they debated how to create this new nation, but most, if not all, of those disagreements and arguments took place with the goal of every person benefitting by whatever action or policy that was drawn up at that particular time. The arguments and disagreements which seem to have become the norm in political circles nowadays, do not seem to be serving to all, or even the majority of the people of this nation (or a state, or a county, or a city, or a town), but rather they seem to be serving to the egos, and maybe even wallets, of the present Congress, made up of people from both parties, occupying the chairs in the seat of power of the branches of government outlined, ironically, by our forefathers of the Second Continental Congress more than 240 years ago.

There was consensus in those days of our forefathers because of the agreement to have unanimity for Independence by all the colonies, to show that all were in agreement of this Declaration of Independence from the Mother Country, to the point that when a huge difference of opinion arose between the northern and southern colonies on one particular clause, the possible ratification of the document and the creation of the new nation was jeopardized. At that point, the northern colonies conceded their wanting to keep the clause, realizing independence would be for the betterment of the many (all?), making both sides, again, one in their quest for independence. That unanimity was preserved with the abstention of New York as the vote was taken, and the absence of John Dickenson and Robert Morris of the Philadelphia delegation. Dickinson disagreed with issuing a declaration until Congress finished the Articles of Confederation and secured a foreign allegiance. Even if Dickinson, who respectfully walked out, Morris, who feared being remembered negatively in history, were there to cast their no votes, the Philadelphia Delegation would still have been in favor of Independence by majority vote of their delegates. Their absence, though, gave Pennsylvania a unanimous vote, though only a majority vote of each colony’s delegates was necessary to determine a colony’s vote on Independence, so the mandate of a unanimous vote for Independence was not jeopardized by differences within a colony. Still, the agreement of unanimity for Independence by all the colonies hung over the Congress, and although all the delegates representing the colony of New York favored independence, their delegation lacked the instructions to vote for it, (though, as portrayed in the HBO Mini Series “John Adams,” Adams believed their reason was a cowardly act of self-preservation from the might of the British Navy.) Whatever the reason, they opted to abstain rather than either vote for something that might not have been favorable to all of the colony, or incur the wrath of the British Navy upon them. Point of all this is, they sought to do whatever it took to insure the mandated unanimity of the vote. The Second Continental Congress debated long hours, days and weeks, to come to a unanimous agreement on a document of Independence that EVERYONE could live with, and even though some disagreed with some of the components, they conceded here and there, so they could stand as one and be able to openly say it was “all of us or none of us.” That seems to have gone by the wayside especially in the last 50 years or so in the government of this nation, and especially in the past 20 years or so.

So this year, as we celebrate America’s 241st trip around the sun, let’s focus on bringing the wisdom, tenacity and patriotism of our forefathers back to the tables, halls and streets of discussion and concession, and set our goals to do what is best for ALL of the people of this nation, whether we might agree with a component of it or not. And then let our standing as the flag passes by in the celebratory parades on Tuesday symbolize all of us standing together in unity telling our leaders, and the world, that it’s “all of us or none of us.” America fought one Civil War in its history, let us not be doomed to fight another one.

Happy Fourth of July everyone, happy birthday America and God bless the USA!!