No human heart is without an ache. The same is true for the hearts of nations. The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, like that of the attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, lingers in the hearts of all Americans, because both events stabbed at the very soul of America.

My wife and I have desired to visit the 9-11 Memorial ever since we learned of its inception. We took a family trip to New York this past summer and were awed by the experience.

The grandeur and endurance of the place where 19 hijackers bent on destruction struck such a painful blow to the American people caused our hearts to ache, but it also reminded us of the highest ideals of America, as they are present at the memorial.

There is a craggily worn tree standing on a deep, green lawn — the only surviving tree from the original site. Looking at my wife sitting beneath it on a stone bench attending to my infant son, I was reminded that the often-wearisome task of securing, serving and striving for liberty is worth the effort for the hope of the next generation.

The American ideal is worth striving for. Siding with freedom over tyranny has long been an American trait.

Prior to the penning of the Declaration of Independence, civil, social, and religious liberty had inched along for centuries. But with the signing of that document in Philadelphia in 1776, a cry for personal liberty exploded. The promissory note ratified that day has been cashed by every succeeding generation.

Our celebration of the common brotherhood of man and the essential liberty of every person has spread beyond our shores. The notion of religious freedom was only held in the minds of some before it was made a reality in these United States.

It is easy for us to get sidetracked in this post 9/11 world by things like mistrust of Islam, fear of terrorism, concern over border safety and national security.

These are all valid concerns, of course. However, the tyranny of fear and uncertainty seeks to grip our nation. Only the highest ideals of America captured in every American heart can reinvigorate our national soul.

We are a people uniquely blessed and used by God. In order to move forward as a people, we must capture those ideals individually and take them with us into tomorrow. It’s not enough to reminisce for days gone by. There were problems to be solved then, as well. Political rhetoric won’t restore the past.

The lofty ideals of America are sustainable, but they require individual responsibility, they require each of us to strive to bring them into being in our hearts, our homes and our communities.

John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, wrote, “Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual…. Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.”

Like that worn tree at the 9-11 Memorial, America bears the scars of the past. And just like that tree, we continue to reach skyward, nourished by the same liberty-laden soil upon which we were born.

The heart of our nation has aches, but the fight from tyranny of fear to continually remake America in the image of its lofty principals of freedom and liberty is worth every scar for the sake of my children and yours.