Celebrating Independence

Today, while there is still time before cooking, before parades, before fireworks, let us think about the meaning of this holiday that celebrates independence and the birth of the U.S.

If we don't live in a place that has preserved colonial history, or if we live further west, Independence Day may seem a distant holiday. But today is a good day to remember the high stakes that those signers of the Declaration of Independence faced. It's good to remember how much they valued the idea of freedom, even if they didn't extend those freedoms to all.

It's a good day to think about what liberties we hold most valuable. Those signers pledged their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor--what would you pledge?

You might think that the freedom to practice my spiritual faith is most important to me, and I do value that. But having access to information might be even more important to me. If I had to choose my favorite right from the Bill of Rights, it might be freedom of the Press.

I like the ability to read just about anything that comes my way. But maybe the ability to create is even more precious to me. Unlike Chinese artists, I don't have to worry about being arrested and sent to jail.  I am concerned about the poet who was arrested after he read a protest poem, but I'm heartened by the groups that are advocating on his behalf.  I have faith that the Bill of Rights will prevail--faith mixed with a bit of fear that rights will be stripped.  But that fear is a good thing--it shows that people are raising alarms and not just sitting idly by.

I like the freedom of movement we have in this country--granted that's not a freedom that we find enshrined in our founding documents. But the other freedoms lead to that freedom of movement--both physical movement and the movement of our minds.

I like being able to follow the path, wherever it leads. I want to leave some light as I go along to lead a way to others.

Let us also remember those who are not so lucky.  Today let us pray for those who are oppressed by tyranny of any kind. Let us pledge allegiance to our God who sets us free.