Great nations are not something that can be summed up in history textbooks or calculated by statisticians. Scholars may diligently poke and prod with their ideas and achieve but a gray understanding. For a nation is not merely a cluster of dates, graphs and charts. These may be helpful references for the studious mind to grasp at certain elements that comprise a civilization. But this approach is lacking in substance, bound by the dry lifeless pages to which it clings.

Unavoidably, a detached perspective must settle for this interpretation. To look back at the rise and fall of empires, we can but appreciate the specks of detail that relay the various ages of man. For nations of old, and great ones at that, are surely not fully portrayed by the literature which survives today.

Even the most astute of academics know not what it is like to experience the beauty of what once was. This rich organic knowledge belongs only to the members of these now-relics of time. The spirit of a nation can only be felt by those living within. For a nation is just that, a living, breathing, spiritual unity of people.

To grasp the spirit of one’s own nation is no simple task. It is like examining a mosaic that stretches over the horizons. We may gaze upon this colossal masterpiece in awe, humbled by but the few brush strokes we can grasp at a time.

One may fix their vision on their communities and see the spirit expressed by social and behavioral particulars. One may find the spirit detectable by the value systems that provide integral glue to a functional society. Even the briefest experience of the little people, like a passing smile or friendly wave between strangers, depicts a bond that lies deeper than their unfamiliarity. For they are together one national spirit manifested in different forms.

It is not intelligible to future scholars to know what it is like to be a part of America and to play host to the American spirit. This belongs to no other time and place but right here, and right now. And what a great time this is.

After decades of being forced into hibernation by political and cultural forces, the great American spirit has awoken with new found strength and voracity. Expressions of patriotism are swelling throughout the ranks of our country, as Americans rally behind a long disenchanted national soul.

A revitalized American spirit flows through the people like a great cosmic rhythm, in sync with nature and the heavens above. The beating of a people can be felt deep within the bones. We, a great collection of different parts, are coming together to produce a determined whole.

Resistance is fiery and chaotic. There remain fellow citizens unfortunately still caught in the clutches of a dying and destructive political age. Our times are tough, though it is the revered who set the course of destiny.

The spirit of a nation cannot be summed up in mere words. It is for the things beyond description that we feel such a unique and sensational bond. Like a love that lasts a lifetime, it need not be founded in logic and rhetoric to inspire an utmost devotion. It means something to be a part of a nation. It means something to be American. To truly feel what the spirit of a nation is, one need only look within. For the heart of our nation lives and dies with you.