When the Sun Shines at Noonday,
There Are No Shadows
Gregory P. Hawkins

During the agonizing months of 1787, while the Framers struggled to bring to life a new nation, it was unclear whether or not they would prove successful. Benjamin Franklin wrote that he almost lost hope - many times - as he sat in the back of that large room in Philadelphia, looking toward the front where George Washington sat and presided over that very contentious debate.

Washington sat in a large chair with the image of a half-sun carved into the wooden headrest. Franklin said that at times during that convention he wondered whether it was an image of a rising sun or a setting sun. He wondered whether their efforts would be successful or if they would fail. He wondered whether or not the sun was setting before the nation was even born. But he bore witness at the signing of the Constitution that it was a rising sun. The sun would shine on America!

I shared this story four years ago on the steps of the Utah State Capitol. I stated then the same belief that I hold now - the sun still shines on America. That, in reality, the sun shines as if at noonday. Our greatest days are before us. Our greatest challenges are yet to be faced and our greatest triumphs are yet to be accomplished.

When the sun shines at noonday there are no shadows.

Government and the world of politics is less about flag-waving and patriotic band music than it is about the often raw use of power. Governmental power and authority in America reside in its citizens, not in its politicians. Yet, much, if not most, of what takes place in Washington occurs behind closed doors, hidden from the view of the people.

There are those, who having usurped the people’s sovereignty, exercise power in the shadows. This is not new. It is as old as power itself. Yet, no nation can survive - year after year, Congress after Congress, decade after decade - if politics are practiced in the dark corners, behind closed doors.

We can bring the hidden things into the light. We can take the light into the shadows. This, in fact, is one of the primary responsibilities of the people’s representatives.

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