February 15, 1985, I stood in the federal courthouse in Pensacola and — along with around 40 people from probably 20 different nations — made promises as a newly minted citizen of this great country. As an American, this makes me just a few months younger than our daughter!
The judge — Roger Vinson — called Rebekah and asked her to give both the invocation and offer a benediction, and so the occasion was framed not only in prayer but in love.
When I made my vows, I did not promise to support any individual or political party or even the president, but I did say that “I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”
I think that is an important distinction to remember, especially at this difficult moment in our history as a nation.
I became a United States citizen for many reasons, including the fact that I felt like I was already home and that I needed to formalize what had already transpired in my heart.
But also — and this is extremely important — I chose to become part of a nation that:
- Builds up, not tears down.
- Does rather than undoes.
- Hopes and believes in place of creating uncertainty and doubt.
- Is rooted in vision, not division.
- Is imaginative rather than repressive.
- Is invested not in retribution but in contribution … and solution and Constitution.
I bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution, not the king.
I am an immigrant, and I still choose America.
— DEREK
