Happy 4th of July
A beautiful day today to celebrate this greatest of all American holidays. But do we remember why we even celebrate the 4th? Over the years it has become a big day for fireworks and hot dogs and parades. But do we sometimes forget that on this day in 1776 one of the most extraordinary human documents was signed by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia? So yes, Happy Birthday America! But that Declaration of Independence signed in 1776 is also a statement against all tyranny and speaks to the aspirations of all human beings. Maybe that’s why the United States is still the desired destination of all people who suffer tyranny and persecution, including many of us who are members of Holy Trinity Church, who came to this country to escape persecution or to find a better life. So it is truly a wonderful day to celebrate what this country has meant for us and for hundreds of millions of others.
The opening words of the Declaration of Independence are truly visionary and capture the spirit of this country’s founding fathers:
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America,
In General Congress Assembled
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….”
The Declaration goes on to itemize the reasons why the Thirteen States broke the “political bands” with Great Britain. But the opening paragraphs, especially the second, are amazing: “Self-evident” and “unalienable Rights” – no human words had ever enshrined such “truths” before July 4, 1776. Those are the words we should be celebrating today. God bless you, God bless America. And note that the founding fathers spoke of “Nature’s God” to avoid any sectarian bias. They were truly wise. Perhaps we can learn from them once again.
Happy 4th of July!