Due to my recent travels, I fear I was not able to mention Bastille Day.  Bastille Day remembers the moment in July 1789 when cries for freedom from the tyranny of the French monarchy finally erupted into concerted action.  Long the symbol of the monarchy's iron grip on power, the Bastille, a dreaded prison, was a fitting place for the Revolution to begin.  And begin it did.

     Yes, the French Revolution was rather bloody, and yes, it killed many innocent people.  No argument there.  Inspired as it was by the American Revolution, however, the French Revolution signaled to the "powers that be" (as the late David Halberstram put it) that from this day forward the lower classes would no longer simply accept their lot and move through life accordingly.  From this day forward, they would seek a greater destiny.  After all, they asserted, they, too, are beings of immense marvel and potential.

     To the point, none of us is here solely to live for ourselves.  We are here for each other.  We are here to participate and share with each other in the bounty of a world created by God.

     And in this world, there is room for everyone to be whom he or she is destined to be.  Everyone.