Happy Fourth Of July, fellow citizens of our great country.

On this national birthday, we are engaged in a great  and troubling search for identity, we are looking to reaffirm or rediscover the shared values that define a country that has always been in conflict with itself, at times even more so than now.

Today, for me, I cannot think of a better place to be than with my friend Ali, and my new friends Lisa, Mudasir and Baseer as we go to that most American of places, a Wal-Mart near Albany. It sounds strange to even write that. But it’s true.

We go there to help this family get to the open field that has always been the American dream. We go to the one place nearby that can meet so many of their needs, from soap to food to games and toys and clothes.

On this blog, in this place, my fellow citizens, also known as the Army Of Good, send hundreds of dollars to help Lisa and her sons, good people who want nothing more than peace and freedom, those most American of things.

They very much love America, they know first hand what it means to be here.

Thanks for your help. Thomas Paine said the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. I’m in, we are in. Hail the Army Of Good, a mighty army on the march.

We go to Wal-Mart, of all places,  to help welcome this family to America. While they still mourn the loss of their father, killed in Afghanistan, they are working every day to adjust to their new country, its new culture, it’s different schools,  even as the struggle rages all around about  how we see them and welcome them.

We couldn’t really think of any better place.

My idea for this patriotic day is to make sure this family has  what they need today, insofar as we can provide it, and for these two quite wonderful young men to get their first toys and set of new clothes in this rich and divided country.

Lincoln said that America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. That never  seems more true than now.

I have never seen myself as a warrior, but I am a warrior now, in my own way, my own time. One person at a time, one good deed at a time. I don’t need to hate or shout at those who disagree with me, I just need to do good as I and the people who support me define it.

In my heart today, there is no fear and no anger and no argument for others. The America I love and know is a generous and welcoming and compassionate nation. That’s the birthday message at Wal-Mart. Today, I take Lincoln to heart, I will work from the inside to honor our real promise and legacy and I understand it.

I will do the best I can for as long as I can. I’ve never spent much time in Wal-Mart before, but this is where I belong today. In this country, if you follow it’s sometimes tortured history, we have always been at odds with one another about important things.

I am proud to be there with my good friend Ali, an American citizen and Muslim committed to doing good. And with Lisa and Mudasir and Baseer, who are no threat to us and mean us no harm.

And what can be more American than this: An American Jew turned Quaker, and an American Muslim heading to Wal-Mart to welcome our new brothers and sisters to America?

We have always worked  to get to the right place in America. Sometimes we have failed, most often we have succeeded. That’s our story.

I have absolutely no doubt  we will end up in the right place again, because that is our destiny also. Happy birthday to you. I wish for you all a peaceful day. On to Wal-Mart.