Going forward in 2022, my wish for everyone is that you attain peace of mind. While we have not been able to free ourselves completely from concerns over Covid-19, medical science has made rapid strides in developing vaccines and many of our fellow citizens have gotten vaccinated. Our efforts to combat the disease are beginning to pay off despite the resistance of an uncomfortably large number of folks who refuse the vaccine and advice from the medical community. That resistance has needlessly left us with ongoing vulnerability; nevertheless, the battle is being waged effectively enough that most of us can see light at the end of the tunnel–a far cry from the onset of the Covid crisis in February 2020. Yes, it will still take more time to analyze the virulence of the emerging variants of this rapidly evolving virus and to develop more tools to fight off their transmission and impact across our society and across the globe. So have faith. We will get there.

But another disease has gripped our nation that we have not yet been able to address effectively. Unbelief. We have been too long adrift in the current of that pernicious attitude, an attitude that seeks to undermine our very existence as a nation. Why? Because we are afraid. Fear has spawned cynicism and unbelief in the great American experiment and in the decency of our fellow citizens, unbelief in our institutions public and private, unbelief in our government, unbelief in the components of our democratic society that have underpinned our achievements as the most open, creative, productive, and economically successful society in human history. All because we are fearful.

Have we now reached the point of unbelief in ourselves as one nation? Are we to give up on everything we have achieved since our founding fathers first set us on the road to freedom and prosperity in a world where we were a novelty? Indeed, we were a novelty that few around the world expected to survive. But we did survive, and thrive, and we became a magnet for people from all around the world who wanted to build a better life, here, in America. We believed in our institutions and our way of life, and we welcomed those who wanted to share the promise of America with us. That’s how we grew our achievements and successes, by building on the diverse contributions of all those who came here to share the dream with us. We all believed that we could achieve the dream. And we did.

We have never been a perfect society; we have had our problems large and small at all levels of society, but we believed in a free society that respected the rule of law and the peaceful transition of power. And we depended on our constitution and in the tools of government that it provided to guide us to improve and evolve. And we believed in the goodwill of our fellow citizens, our neighbors. We believed we could fix our problems, achieve great things, and become a beacon of light for the world. And we did. By working together, Americans all. One nation, the United States of America.

Through world wars and civil crises, in the face of natural disasters and vicious terrorism, we have risen to all of the challenges thrust upon us and overcome them. Are we less able to do so today? Or do we lack the will? The world is watching to see how we answer those questions.

It’s time to dispel unbelief, to replace cynicism and fear with optimism and hope. It’s time to get hold of ourselves and stop fearing one another. Demonizing our fellow citizens with whom we don’t see eye to eye ultimately devalues the humanity of each one of us. We can disagree respectfully while remaining friends and rallying around the core American values we all share. There is a place for everyone to be heard, so let’s not disparage the sincerity of one another’s patriotism. Rather, we must stop tearing down our beloved country and start believing again in who we are, Americans all, and renew our commitment to our national ideals. Remember, at a dark time in our history, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told Americans, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”

The land of the free and the home of the brave is our heritage. Let’s face the challenges of the future together: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.