FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

When I begin my cross-country bicycle ride on May 28th, I am going to start with my big toe and bike tire in the Pacific Ocean. I have a vial that I will fill half way full of the waters from the Pacific Ocean. I will carry this with me all 3,333.33 (ironically 33 is my favorite number) miles across the country as I ride my bike. When I reach the Atlantic Ocean I will likewise put my big toe and bicycle tire in the water. And then I will fill the remainder of the vial with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which will mix with the water of a continent away, the Pacific.

To me this is symbolic of the unity of our county. In the past the United States, although diverse, has been generally unified in good causes. The country was united for hundreds of years fighting for freedom. Although we have a rich variation in cultures and ideas we have been for the most part unified in the same values that have made our country the greatest on Earth. However, in my lifetime I have seen this change. In the last few decades a few people and groups want to have different values that go against and are against everything that the Founding Fathers fought for.

Ironically those that are responsible for changing the traditional values of this country even admit that crime, violence, abuse, bureaucracy, and a whole host of problems have gone up more and more each year.

So as I spend 2 ½ months riding a bicycle across the country to raise money for Shriners Hospitals for Children I will also be talking at various school, civic, and church groups to remind them of the values that this country was founded upon and which the constitution was established upon.