No, it was not Eden, but in spite of everything, it lay closer to the Garden than any land before it in all history. During and since the great floods of immigration that carried the fathers and mothers of us all, every generation has found—that American perfection, or close to it as any of us will ever come—lies in the seeking of our imperfections, and the tending to them.

“Our Lady of the Freedoms and Some of Her Friends” broadcast July, 1997 on NPR