That tiny bit of Latin may be the most important any of us ever mutter. Some folks will ask “Why is that important, what does it even mean”? Those people will sometimes stop and ponder the meaning if it is explained to them, others will just shrug and go on about their daily drudgery. “From Many, One”. Those who can’t grasp or refuse to try to grasp just how profound that phrase really is are the ones to pity. Those folks will probably never realize just how fortunate they are to live in a country where that simple statement has such exalted implications.
The concept of many standing together as one is the real strength of any collection of people. Whether that collection be a Neighborhood Watch group, or a football team, or a Police force, or a standing Army. The unity of purpose and the willingness to sacrifice one’s self for the benefit of the whole is the rock upon which peoples and nations stand and endure.
Nations arise and fade, distinct cultures come and go. The rise from chaos to recognition as a unique entity comes because the people comprising those entities stand together with and for a common cause.
Our nation, the United States of America, stands only because, for roughly the last two and a half centuries, her people stood shoulder to shoulder as one, facing all adversity. People’s differences and disagreements were put aside as being secondary to the defense and preservation of our way of life. I believe there is no nation on earth as grandly diverse as America while being so unified in spirit and purpose.
Yes, there are always differences in viewpoints and varying opinions, but those have served, for the most part, to strengthen our society and our nation. There is an old truism that adversity brings strength. That can be said of nations as well as individuals. Adversity and sacrifice are never pleasant, but once they are past, we realize that by standing together, we are stronger and better than any motley collection of individuals with no common bond.
The term common bond does not have to mean “all think alike”. A commonality of purpose and a common drive for a desired outcome or the realization of a mutually desired goal is what makes for unity. Unity can and does weld peoples into nations and common cultures. The sharing of both risk and reward binds people together in many and sundry ways. That realization can be seen when several people lift and carry a heavy, awkward object from one place to another. When they have accomplished their goal, they can collectively wipe their sweaty brows and proudly think “without our working together, we could not have done that”.
In this time of worldwide fear and confusion about Covid-19 and the hysteria here at home, this is just about a perfect time for us, as Americans, to figuratively “stand together” while observing social distancing and self-isolation. We are all in the same boat as we face the uncertainties of this pandemic. If we work together, with the common goal of coming out the other side as a strong and unified nation, we who survive will be stronger. When it is past, we can all, together, grieve for our lost loved ones and take pride in having beaten a microscopic but deadly enemy.
In unity, there is strength. From Many, One.
E Pluribus Unum.
Stand proud and strong that you have the privilege of living in a country that allows and encourages such strength and unity. God Bless America!
Jack Hommel
Golden Valley
