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The late historian/educator Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote a book entitled “The Disuniting of America” that was published in 1991.  The book concerned reflections on a multicultural society and has wisdom for our American society in 2024.  In the book, Schlesinger notes that other countries break up because they fail to give ethnically diverse peoples a compelling reason to see themselves as part of the same nation.  Schlesinger points out that the United States has worked thus far, because it has offered such reason.  But Schlesinger also adds, “that today (1991) our common thread is loosening and we are in danger of becoming a nation of tribal hostilities.”  While Schlesinger’s words relate to 1991, they also ring true in 2024.

There is no doubt that the common thread of what it means to be an American has weakened.  We see it in so many ways-a border with no vetting process, demonstrators confused about America, a country so divided that party triumphs over the common good, where untrue accusations reign over integrity and character, where the FBI continues to warn of dangers inside our country and where the quest for power replaces wisdom and knowledge.

Ethnic diversity, absolutely!  We certainly affirm ethnic diversity.  But there must also be a common purpose or creed or thread or our diversity will

eventually cause our disruption.

Call me an alarmist if you like, but I think this unraveling of the American common thread is serious and deserves our best thinking and action.  And evidently, I’m not alone in my concern.  In a recent email, after I had mentioned my thoughts on this subject, a person wrote, “You have shared the first email I’ve read recently, that expresses my feelings and concerns.  I don’t call you an alarmist but at all but definitely, a realist.  We all must pray about this.”

No question our prayers are needed for America but so are our voices to those in authority that our American common thread needs tightening.  Writing in his book “If You Can Keep It,” Eric Metaxas, upon other things, wrote about the early days of America.  He wrote, “It was  a nation held together by an idea and by citizens who bought into that idea.  They were of different backgrounds and different religions…But they were all Americans because they voluntarily believed in that idea.  And the idea in which they believed was, in a word “liberty.”  Simply stated, the importance of our American common thread cannot be overstated.