The neighbors have noticed that I fly a flag on days they don't expect. Some of them have noticed I fly flags they've never seen. However, for all of my attentiveness, I discovered this morning that I missed a day that means a great deal to me. Yesterday was Constitution Day.
On 21 June 1788, New Hampshire ratified the Constitution. Being the ninth state to do so, that made the Constitution officially the replacement to the Articles of Confederation and the new government of the land. Benjamin Franklin, in response to the day replied in a written response read by a compatriot, "Thus I consent sir because I know no better and because I am not sure that it is not the best."
As many American politicians talk about what they would like to do, I have noticed how they talk about how they have a good idea or a great one. However good it might be, it bothers me just how much we settle for "good" when we could have "better" or "best".
Many people will try to dissuade you from the things you have chosen. So much of what we pick as people is either "not bad" or "good", but that's not the full upgrade. If it's not better, why should we change? Not all change is for the better; sometimes it just leaves us with something different, and often it leaves us with something of lower quality.
Some of our political leaders insist that we need another convention, that the Constitution is outdated. Principles, however, are forever. I echo the words of Franklin, because I am not sure that it is not the best that Constitution with which we are blessed. I do not see how the men of our time, who are fascinated with American Idol, Sponge Bob, Harry Potter, and the Kardashians can possibly match the brilliance and wisdom of Locke, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Madison, et al. Even if that type of man existed today, we would not be likely allowed to meet them. They would be compelled in school to conform.
Thank God they were born in that day instead of ours.
Happy Constitution Day.
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