Letters to the Editor | Week of Sept. 23-28, 2024

Missing the joy

When troubled waters reach the peaceful shores of our tranquility and our serenity, when the whirling winds of discontent and restlessness descend upon the calmness and passivity of life as it was meant to be, it is time to bring back the joy. Time to bring back the normality. Time to bring back the sanity. Time to embrace civility. Time to take a breath, and look forward toward tomorrow — and not back — through the haze and maze of distorted and contorted memories that no longer fit into the majestic tapestry of wonder that lies beyond the tempest clouds of discontent and gloom.

Bring back the joy that used to be. Bring back the thrill of it all — the rapture and the ecstasy of reason and of purpose — the empowerment, the inspiration and the liberation — to feel the power of righteousness, the power of human motivation.

That is the story of America. A forceful storm of ideas and notions, whirling and spinning, and gaining strength with every changing season. A storm that gathers force with the roiling waves of changing times and growing minds that shape and mold the path toward smoother, calmer, stiller waters that breaks the cycle, eases the pressure and reduces the level and anxiety of manmade fury and rage. Bring back the joy. Bring back the power to believe in the America’s story, in America’s dream.

There is a ray of light — a ray of hope — that shines through the darkened clouds of our time. There is a renewal of the old-time American spirit captured in Norman Rockwell paintings, and in living memories that depict the best of America — the ordinary, the extraordinary — the hopefulness, the promise, the expectation that is America. Through storms — the thunders and eruptions of disagreements, even attempted insurrection. Through mistakes and missteps of human error and human fault and blunder. Through triumphs and victories over evil and lies. Through the nightmares of remembered struggles and sacrifices. America. My America: That place beyond the rainbow, at the end of the yellow brick road.

Bring back the joy! Let us feel and savor the pure delight at hearing again — the sound of our liberty bell — and seeing again the banner of the free and the brave, waving proudly, flying high. Bring back the joy of listening to America being uplifted and extolled, instead of being constantly degraded, debased and humiliated. Bring back the joy!

The 2024 presidential campaign is a call to stand up, or a time to bow down and out. The choices are simple: joy versus humiliation. Good versus evil. Truth versus lies.

Americans have always had the choice — to select, to elect, to differentiate. But always, America has won.

The joy of freedom, of liberty, of choice, of growth — too profound to be let go and abandoned in the storm of discontent, disillusionment, greed and corruption. America is about the promise of the quiet after the storm.

Al Garcia-Wiltse

San Juan

Editor’s note: We welcome your letters and commentary. Submissions must include the writer’s full name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters of 200 words or fewer will be given preference. Submissions may be edited for length, grammar and clarity. Letters may be mailed to P.O Box 3267, McAllen, Texas 78502-3267, or emailed to letters@myRGV.com.

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