Fourth of July 2020

It’s the Fourth of July weekend. There will be fireworks. In fact, there have been fireworks going off in my neighborhood for a couple months. They have steadily gotten louder and more frequent as July 4 approached. 

There will not be as many public fireworks extravaganzas as in years past. Some cities are setting up special locations where you can gather to set off your fireworks. In my home town, there will be four smaller fireworks locations instead of the big one with thousands of people.
I’m sure families will gather. There will be those who travel, as always, to enjoy the holiday in national parks or lakes. Others will stay quietly at home.
No matter how we remember the day, let’s not forget the reason for the sparklers, rockets, and explosions in the sky. We are celebrating the birthday of our nation. A nation we all love, for a variety of reasons.
We honor the opportunities our freedom offers, even as we acknowledge that not everyone has equal access to those opportunities.

We honor our natural resources and the beauty of the land, even while weighing how to preserve that beauty and benefit from the wealth beneath it.

We honor our diversity which has enriched our common life, even though we may struggle with how to welcome new citizens.

We honor our various freedoms of speech, religion, and all the others, even when we don’t agree with the viewpoints expressed by everyone around us.

Let us also honor one another for the talents and strengths each of us can offer to the recreating of lifestyle in light of the COVID19 and BLM and political turmoil. Let us work together for the good of all. Let us love the image of God in each other. Let us listen to one another. Let us be a new people as we move forward.

Let’s become a people who can truthfully say what our pledge of allegiance states “one nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for ALL.”
Happy Fourth of July.