Thoughts for July Fourth

Friday our nation will celebrate its 238th birthday.  There will be family barbeques, parades, lots of patriotic music, baseball games, and those incredible fireworks displays as the day draws to a close.  But what exactly are we celebrating on Friday?  Some will celebrate a day free from work - and you get paid besides - how great is that!  Some will celebrate a time to do something out of the ordinary.  But many will have no idea of why there is a Fourth of July celebration.  Our children are growing up where the Spirit of 1776 is no longer taught with zeal and fervor, if it is taught at all.  Many of our young adults would be hard pressed to tell you who were George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock (didn't he start an insurance company?), Patrick Henry, and a host of others.  Fewer still could tell you who wrote the Declaration of Independence - it was Thomas Jefferson.  And fewer yet could share those opening words of that Declaration that have guided our nation these past nearly two and a half centuries: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal.  That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ..." 

A couple years ago Marlys and I had the privilege of standing in that room in Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration was signed.  There was almost a hushed reverence as we stood there and heard stories from the Park Ranger about those who signed that parchment that day.  Did they know they were doing something significant?  Absolutely, for one of their number - John Adams - was careful to record a diary of what took place those weeks prior the writing of the Declaration.  Did they know that what they were doing would shake the world?  Perhaps it had entered their minds, but they were really creating a revolution based not upon some whims of another tyrant or the claims of a different political persuasion, but a revolution based upon some basic principles that were foundational for life.  That is what makes the American Revolution truly different from any revolution either prior to it or after it. 

I often ask myself what America's Founding Fathers would think if they were to arise from their graves today to observe the nation they created.    Perhaps they would marvel at the greatness America had become and the role of leadership America has played throughout the world.  Perhaps they would traverse the various memorials that dot the landscape of our National Mall - the World War II Memorial, the Viet Nam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and others - and be inspired by America's leadership.  Perhaps they would walk down many of the side streets in small towns across America and be thrilled at the initiatives that have created "mom and pop" stores - the backbone of America's economy now as it was back in 1776.  Yes, they would marvel at America's greatness.

But I also think that they would feel a great deal of sadness as they observed the multitude of homes with absentee fathers; cities where gangs rule with very little restraint, where citizens are fearful of being assaulted while simply walking to the corner store.  They would be shocked to know that prayers could no longer be raised in the public arena without the fear of litigation.  (The majority of our Founding Fathers were men who believed in the power of prayer and urged their national family to pray for them).  Their eyes would well up with tears as they witnessed the brazenness of the immorality that has become part of who we are today.  Yes, there was sin in 1776, but there was a sense of shame that often came with the sin.  Such shame is missing today. 

America has changed since those signatures were inscribed that July 4th in 1776.  Those men had a dream - a big dream, a bold dream, a dream that demanded sacrifice.  And they were willing to pay that sacrifice - and many of them did pay it.  But, as I have read many of the stories of those men and of their struggles in that period of 1774-1776, I have come to this realization: those men could do what they did because they believed in the power of God and believed God had called them for this purpose.  I found it interesting that one historian has said that the founding of America was no accident, for at no other time in our history has such a group of leaders ever been assembled.  I highly recommend two books written by Joseph Ellis.  One is titled, America's Founding Brothers, which tells the stories of many of those who helped make America what it became.  The second is titled, The American Creation, which relates the story of the writing of the Constitution.  Both books will leave you challenge your thinking and be an encouragement to you.

So, celebrate on Friday however you feel led.  But in your celebration remember what happened on that fateful day in 1776 when a group of men pledged themselves and all that they had to create a nation they believed could be blessed by God and used by God to impact their world.  Yes, "America, America, God shed His grace on thee; and crowned thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea."  America, may we return to those moorings of our past so as to find a purpose and guide for our present and future.  And may we do it before it is too late!