Fourth of July

 Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. It’s a day in the United States when we remember our founding, and our fundamental values. “All [people] are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights…Life, Liberty, the pursuit of happiness.”

The writers of the Declaration may not have quite believed that ALL are equal. After all, in 1776 there were slaves and women were chattel as well. Many of the signers were slaveholders. That is part of the truth of our shared history in this country. We have not always lived into our ideals.

Despite that reality, what they wrote was prophetic and has inspired people across the spectrum of nationality, age, gender, and education to strive to create something unique.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence ended by stating, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

These men took a huge risk to create a new nation. We are the current beneficiaries of that risk. We are challenged and tasked with continuing to live into the promises and dreams of our Founding Fathers, and to bring them, with God’s help, to fuller fruition.

Watching the news may give you the impression that we are a deeply divided people. And there is truth in that. As Abraham Lincoln noted in the Gettysburg address in 1863--another time with the nation was deeply divided--we dedicate ourselves to the ideal "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

May your Fourth of July be a time to consider what the words of the Declaration mean to you and how you can make them real in your life.

You can read the Declaration here: Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives and the Gettysburg Address here: Text of Lincoln's Gettysburg Adddress (umn.edu)