In all honesty, these days, I rarely attend large social gatherings, such as awards ceremonies or galas. Maybe it was because I spent so many years attending such events, often handing out resolutions to honorees during the political chapter of my life. Nonetheless, I accepted my friend’s invitation to attend my alma mater’s distinguished alumni dinner so I could catch up with some old friends and partake of a free meal. (Some things never change.)
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I knew of the two honorees and their significant accomplishments to our school and our community, and, having seen my father and mother being bestowed with similar awards for their achievements, I understood how the two distinguished honorees and their assembled families would always remember the special evening with rightful pride and gratitude.
Indeed, for all the reuniting graduating classes, it would prove a festive occasion redolent of fellowship and reflection—on my part, I had no idea how much.
Across the room, I spied a man who had played a significant part in the lives of one of the honorees, as well as in mine. He was standing by himself, characteristically not seeking to draw attention to himself.
The individual, whom we will call Mark, spent his entire life teaching, coaching, mentoring, and molding young men into Catholic gentlemen imbued with goodness, discipline, and knowledge.
Doing so, he had become a legendary figure, though it mattered little, if at all, to him. He was someone who practiced what he preached, recognizing that doing the right thing the right way was an end unto itself. Caring more about accomplishments than accolades, he also instilled in us the wisdom to recognize that plaudits were superfluous, indeed often harmful, to getting the task finished.
Life, like football, was a team sport. Everyone should be dedicated to improving themselves and collaborating with others to attain success. Yet this was decidedly not the “warm embrace of the collective” ideology, nor was it the straw man argument of calloused “rugged individualism.”
No, it was the traditional, beneficent code of personal responsibility, eternal virtues, and, yes, cardinal sins, whereby an individual has the free will to make the necessary decisions and take the required actions to choose to improve themselves and the lives of others.
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Mark certainly did. Practicing what he preached, he imparted through his example the eternal verities that shaped the pursuit of the “good” through the millennia, recognizing above all that “your gift from God is who you are; your gift to God is what you make of yourself.”
While Mark was decidedly apolitical in his approach, it is not hard to see how such a moral code formed the civic ethos that shaped America’s Founding and continues to instruct our pursuit of a more perfect union—in sum, the undergirding philosophy allowing sovereign citizens to perpetuate our revolutionary experiment in self-government. Taken together, absent the ability to discern the virtuous path and practice self-restraint and self-sacrifice, there remains only will, whim, and appetite to direct an increasingly disordered soul; and, should enough disordered souls manifest, tyrannically rule a doomed society.
It was individuals like Mark who had spent their entire lives walking on and pointing out the virtuous path and encouraging young people to follow. In fact, tonight, one of those once-young people, now an accomplished adult being honored for their lifetime achievements, would from the dais publicly thank Mark for his guidance.
So, sensing the program was about to commence, I made a quick beeline over to Mark. I expected him to be in good spirits, as one of his team captains from his first state championship was being honored—the embodiment and epitome of everything Mark had spent his life instilling in youth.
I walked up, said “hello,” and began engaging in the awkward small talk one does when bumping into a mentor who has done so much for you. Mark, who doubtless has had so many such conversations over the decades, kindly indulged me. Yet, as we chatted, a wistful countenance covered Mark’s face as he looked at me and said,
“I don’t recognize America anymore.”
* * *
An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a cohost of The John Batchelor Show, among sundry media appearances.
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