Bridge of Wills

America, the land of the free and brave, is in no short supply of beauties that bless this land by the providence of the creator, both of nature and human imprint, from the towering peaks of the San Ynez mountains and the forests of Acadia to the astonishing scenery of the Grand Canyon and the glaciers of Alaska. In this land, natural beauty is met by the creation of the freedom it boasts in the form of architectural prowess and grandiosity, from coast to coast, city to city, and state to state. America must be proud of what she has built, and today we celebrate one of her great constructions, the Brooklyn Bridge. Today on a day like this in 1884, the Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public in what has become a significant staple in one of America’s great cities, New York. This work of architectural wonder has served as the cohesion that properly allows for the function of the world’s financial capital; millions walk and traverse her every year as it connects Manhattan and Brooklyn. So today, it’s only fitting to render tribute to this great testament of American ingenuity, determination, and freedom. To her, a construction that could only be built by the sons of liberty that inhabit this land, built upon principles intrinsically sewn into the American character, greatness, courage, and defying. The defying to render the impossible possible, the inconceivable conceivable, and the unreachable reachable. That sheer inconceivability that surrounded her construction, a process plagued by multiple delays, faults, and difficulties, but one finished in that distinct American spirit to defy the odds, a construction that ultimately ended up being a record-setter unseen in the world at that time. So today, we celebrate the inconceivable made conceivable, the labors endured in her making, and the purpose she grants to that great city.

However, a more profound message lies within that architectural prowess that serves as another testament to this land. That message is not evident to the naked eye but is embedded to her very act of being, one that serves as an answer to the urgent call our nation pleads as partisan demagogues and passions rip it apart; the need for a bridge of wills. Just as this bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn, we must build a bridge that heals divides, rural and urban, Republican and Democrat, black and white. Only by creating that bridge of wills in the center will this country survive, and what President Lincoln said still holds true “A house divided cannot stand.”