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Monday, June 16, at noon, Natchez will observe its Sixth Annual Day of Unity service, to be held at Jefferson Street Methodist Church.

Begun in 2020, this annual observance has become a staple on the Natchez calendar. Area churches ring their bells at noon, we gather, sing, pray, and it is truly something I look forward to each year.

At my first inaugural as your mayor in July of 2020, I made the statement that, “Unity is key to Community and Opportunity, and we can have neither Community nor Opportunity without this key word, Unity.” I continue to hold to that statement, and every day as your mayor I try my best to live up to it.

As I reflect upon this statement as it relates to our current time, I am convinced that unity must continue to be our priority – that we as a people must work together in harmony across the lines of division that have plagued us for generations so that we as Americans can truly live up to our highest calling, to be a light of freedom and peace to a world crying out for both.

More and more, we as citizens seem to be dividing ourselves into political, cultural and ideological camps. Perhaps it might be better said that we are being divided – by politicians, media influencers, and social activists determined to drive wedges of contention into the fabric of our diversity as a means to various ends, be it political, financial, or a furtherance of their own personal agendas.

I am not naive to think that we can all become like-minded or that we will ever agree all the time or share the same exact philosophies or societal views. Such would be impossible given our adversity and history and would be degrading to our diversity, the melting of many cultures that makes America truly special.

I do believe that we can get along with one another. And I believe doing so is essential to our survival. As Abraham Lincoln famously quoted from the Bible during his historic campaign for Senate against Stephen Douglas in 1858, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” These immortal words ring true today.

In my heart, I know living in unity with others is possible. I have lived it my whole life. What is required is an appreciation and respect for others, regardless of how different we may be. We are called to live together in love, observing the great command of Jesus, “to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourself.” I realize this has not always been our history in Natchez. But I can truly say the vast majority of our citizens are trying.

This Monday, please join us for our Day of Unity service, so that we may gather, sing, and pray, and in doing so lift up Natchez as an example to other communities of how a complicated city with a complicated past can rise above its differences in order to accomplish great things by working together. The time has come. Because Natchez Deserves More.

Dan M. Gibson is mayor of Natchez.