A friend convened a group to discuss the modern meaning of the phrase “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” There was a fair amount of cynicism in our responses. The values espoused in the Declaration of Independence, like equality and freedom, are under attack in many segments of our society. I shared how community, rather than self-reflection, has taught me the truths I hold dear.
After the meeting, I headed to the Mediterranean Deli for a piece of baklava.
This was my first visit to the restaurant since it reopened after a destructive fire more than two years ago. Owner Jamil Kadoura is a pillar of our community, a person of integrity who used the donated funds to his restaurant to pay his employees. His reopened deli feels like a sanctuary from the ugly politics in our country.
Med Deli looked as I remembered, yet it seemed even brighter. Perhaps it was the joy in the air. I sat at a small table and exchanged smiles with fellow customers — a couple of college students in pajama pants, a few men in business suits, and still others wearing yarmulkes. I grinned and waved at women with babies strapped to their chests and others whose heads were wrapped in colorful hijabs.
It is self-evident to me that America has always had multiple and contrasting truths. Throughout our nation’s history, there have been moments when these competing truths have clashed violently. On the evening after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy wondered about what kind of nation we wanted and what direction we wished to go. He acknowledged that we could choose a path of continued hatred and seek revenge. Alternatively, we might strive to understand one another by showing compassion for everyone who suffers. Kennedy acknowledged our country has faced difficult times in the past and will have difficult times in the future, “but the vast majority [of Americans] want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.”
This is the kind of soaring rhetoric and lofty aspirations I hope to hear from a politician, yet I know such words are only as meaningful as the ways they take root in the hearts and minds of everyday people, like my fellow Med Deli patrons and me. So, while the baklava was outstanding, I have to say that the hope I tasted was even sweeter.
(featured image via Mediterranean Deli)
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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