Yet another political holiday this week! Today we celebrate Constitution Day, because it is the 238th anniversary of the day (September 17, 1787) the delegates of the US Constitution Convention signed the document. This made it the legal bedrock of our nation. The Declaration of Independence set forth our national ideals and values, but it didn’t address how to make them happen. It is the US Constitution that laid out the framework by which our country would operate. It is a living document that changes and has been amended and interpreted throughout our nearly 250 years as a nation, but it is the bedrock of our democracy.

Too many of us haven’t read the document. Even worse, several members of the Trump Administration, including the President himself, seem totally unaware of what the Constitution says and doesn’t say. So just actually reading the document is a way to recognize the day. One of my favorite places to read it is https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/full-text.

Most of all, I would remind everyone that the first Amendment included the right to free speech. Charlie Kirk had the right to say what he said, much of which I disagreed with. But that is no excuse to kill him. Other people have the right to express their satistfaction about the loss of his voice, especially if it was hurting them personally. That is no excuse to fire them, especially if it has nothing to do with their job.

My hope this Constitution Day is that we can all recommit to the value of a right to speak our own truth, no matter whether we agree with others or not. It is, after all, in our #1 Amendment in the Bill of Rights. As hard as it can be to hear when we disagree, I think it has served us well over the past 2 centuries.