We've all heard the story in one variation or another; only the names change, or the nationalities, or some other detail here or there.  It is a story that brings together the promise and the dream of America.  In some cases, the story involves our parents or grandparents.  The story of which I speak is that of the immigrant who comes to this country with nothing but a dream, and through hard work and dedication becomes an American success story.

I heard just such a story a few days ago from Sam Zakhem, the United States Ambassador to Bahrain during the Reagan Administration.  His story highlights the best of America:  religious tolerance, openness to newcomers, economic mobility, and most of all (of course):  the power of individual liberty and self-determination.

Ambassador Zakhem spoke of a meeting he was having once with various heads of state in the middle east, when he was asked by one why he loved America so much.  He responded with a story as poignant as any I've ever heard.  He spoke of having left his home country, Lebanon, and arriving in the United States with $20.  He got a job and worked his way through college.  Having acquired his bachelor's degree and deciding on graduate school, he decided to take a trip across America, from Michigan to California.

Mr. Zakhem spoke of how he, a Lebanese Arab, traveled across the country with no one asking him what religion he practiced, where he was from, who his parents were, or whether he had the proper papers to travel, or how much money he had to pay in bribes.  With dramatic effect, he told us that he could never have done such a thing in his own home country of Lebanon.  He told of the freedom he had in America, the opportunity, the dreams that need not be deferred.  This, he told the other government officials, was why he loved America.  This was what he wished to see in his war-torn home country.  It is impossible for me to replicate the raw emotion and inspiration of his words.

It is said so often it has become cliche:  America is a country of immigrants.  Yet being trite or cliched does not mean untrue, and I can think of no other country so dependent on the influx of foreigners for its success and for its renewal.  Whether it has been Irish escaping famine or Cubans escaping Communism, America has thrived on newcomers to this country taking full advantage of many of the freedoms and opportunities we native-born citizens all-too-often take for granted.

Mr. Zakhem reminded us again and again, in a smile that seemed never to waver, that we should thank God each day for the freedoms we enjoy.  But he also reminded us that we must protect them, and unfortunately I'm afraid that too few people actively participate in either activity.

Freedom has risks:  not every one has the same gifts, the same resolve, or the same obstacles.  Yet when we are true to the ideals of freedom, individually and as a society, we each have at least the opportunity to go as far as our character will take us.  This is the promise of liberty.

The rags-to-riches story of the immigrant escaping oppression to enjoy freedom and the American dream might be a rerun, but it is a story I never tire of hearing, a story that never gets old.