July 5th Sunday Service/Message – This Sunday, in honor of our nation’s birth, Jan Sacco offers varied opportunities to reflect upon the meaning of E Pluribus Unum, “Out of Many, One.” This is our country’s original motto, which was established in 1776 during the same year as the Declaration of Independence was signed. How do the words speak to us today? What do they call us to do?
On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the 13 colonies of what would become the United States of America. In that same year, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, among others, approved the motto E Pluribus Unum – “Out of Many, One” – for the Great Seal of our newly formed nation. That aptly-appropriated Latin phrase reflected their determination to assemble a single unified nation from a collection of states. Over time, as our country has grown and diversified, we have discovered that there are serious challenges to realizing the ideal of unifying a nation of people from different backgrounds and beliefs. In recent weeks, we have been reminded of the fragility of that unity, and of the powerful forces working to tear it apart: distrust, hatred, prejudice, and despair. We are exhausted and disheartened. Beaten down by hateful rhetoric and lies, we want to give up; we can find no sure footing. But in this motto – E Pluribus Unum – there is an inherent truth that can ground us, one that transcends individual foibles, biases, and pettiness, rampant misinformation, and government dysfunction. It is a truth exemplified all around us: by the collection of individual cells that cooperate to keep our bodies whole, by myriad unique organisms that work in concert to sustain an entire planet, and by every act of good carried out by diverse peoples who combine their efforts in community. E Pluribus Unum expresses a fundamental truth of nature – that I am at my strongest and most resilient, not as a singular individual lifting up only myself “by my own bootstraps,” but as part of a diverse, mutually-supportive body. For me, there is hope in this truth, hope that we might summon a collective will, pick each other up, and confront the challenges that arise when we embrace and mobilize our diversity in the service of unity.
To further explore these ideas through engaging stories and activities inspired by objects from four different science and culture collections at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture (HMSC), visit this link – https://hmsc.harvard.edu/extraordinary-things – to access the HMSC Connects! Extraordinary Things webpage. Then look for the title “E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One,” and click on the image below it showing a cloth with the Great Seal of the United States.