Two recent celebrations highlighted the power of pronouns. While different occasions (one a celebration of a life well-lived and the other a celebration of community and the potential for enhancing our lives), they both reminded me of the power we have when we seek to serve each other and all of us collectively. Those pronouns are YOU and WE.
YOU – the peaceful passing of the wonderful wife of an esteemed colleague was recognized with a celebration of life on June 19th. Her second bout with cancer was quite difficult yet she handled it with the aplomb of someone content with the grace demonstrated throughout her lifetime. The family shared with those gathered her final words, her words of gratitude. I was struck by her discussion of the word/idea of viaticum, meaning food for journey, that which sustains us as we make our final passage in life. The word that predominated her thoughts was YOU. She was grateful for the kindness, tenderness and love from all her friends. She thanked the collective you – those folks who provided gifts of food, visits, prayers, patience, presence, flowers and innumerable small favors. She emphasized that her viaticum (her food for the journey at the end) was YOU, those in the congregation and beyond who provided so much to comfort and to assist her and her family.
WE – the opening of the Obama Presidential Center was a celebration of hope and the potential in all of us going forward. The Center is viewed as a place of possibilities, where the power and promise of democracy can be explored through the lens of hope and change. One of the hallmark features of the center is a 225-foot building, its shape inspired by the image of four hands reaching skyward. The five-foot tall letters near the top showcase an excerpt from Obama’s speech at the Selma bridge in 2015.
“You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
Such a powerful message back in 2015 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL on March 7, 1965. These remarks are timeless and worthy of further reflection in 2026. We are faced with the same issues today and need to be cognizant of the power of WE. We wield incredible power when we think and act in the collective, when we look to serve and care for others. It is only in the WE mode that positive change can occur and be impactful for all of our fellow citizens.
So, in a very short time span, I was reminded of how important YOU (others helping others) and WE (our collective actions on behalf of others) are. Yes, they are pronouns but so symbolic of our potential abilities to exhibit words and deeds that affect the lives of our loved ones and those we share humanity with.
It is worthy to note that these celebrations are shared with the holiday of Juneteenth, June 19th. Juneteenth preserves that date in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston TX to inform the last enslaved people in the US that they are free. The celebration of life highlighting the power of YOU was emblematic of the life well-lived and cherished by so many. She would have loved the coincidence with sharing her celebration with Juneteenth. The celebration of a new presidential center highlighted the power of WE. Both the YOU and the WE are also celebrated in the history of Juneteenth and serve to remind us that the work of caring for each other has a checkered past and can always be improved.
(Source: The Oregon Clinic)
In a time when there seems to be a quite a kerfuffle about pronouns, I want to emphasize how the pronouns of YOU and WE can direct our words and deeds in innumerable positive ways. Both of them require selfless devotion to others. I cannot think of a more important way to serve our fellow citizens and our country.