Posted on 07/01/2002 12:32:49 PM PDT by KMC1
Much ado has been bantered about concerning the safety and peace this 4th of July. FBI warnings, flight bans around national monuments, and even mayors --Bloomberg and Daley-- advising people on how to spend the day have bombarded our TV sets.
I don't believe I've ever quite wondered ahead of time like I have this year: Will this day hold tragedy close again to the heart of America? If we believe the warnings and the news reports, Al Queda is and has been more active in the last five days than in the last five months. Many Americans have decided to respond by staying closer to home. My friend Ann Coulter tells me she has sworn off air travel for good. I do think Ann is representative of many, who for whatever reasons, may be more inclined to not wander far from those places we call home.
I'm not one of those. In fact, even in light of these constant warnings, upgraded terror threats, flight ban over national monuments etc., I will fly. In my own insignificant way, its my statement to those who wish us harm, "You will not stop us! And even if you try, we will not be frightened into backing down!"
But if we think that this July 4th is the most gloom-filled of any we have faced, then we have forgotten our roots. July 4ths come and go. They are with us and then they are gone, and most years we give little thought to how or why we even celebrated them. It's too bad really, because on that original July 4th, the men who were about to add their signatures to a certain document were signing their death warrant. In doing so, they were defying the most powerful military machine on the planet and saying, "We will be free!"
"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.” This is how the signers signed our Declaration of Independence! In doing so, they invited the terror of tyranny to be visited upon them - and for many of them it was!
John Adams was very outspoken about his belief as to why July 4th should be remembered as a true spiritual "holy" day.
Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?
In other words, it was clear in the mind of this founding father that the reason America had been established was so that the compassionate and life-affirming principles of Christianity would be instituted into civil government.
In penning our Declaration of Independence, the signers placed their own security in jeopardy. Dr. Benjamin Rush, thought of as the Father of American Medicine, once wrote of the day the document was signed to his good friend John Adams:
Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the House when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe to what was believed by many at that time to be our death warrants? The silence and gloom of the morning was interrupted, I well recollect, only for a moment by Colonel Harrison of Virginia (ed.note: a big guy) who said to Mr. Gerry (ed.note: small in stature) at the table: 'I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing... From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.' This speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.”
Historian David Barton has put it this way: "Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the principles on which it was founded."
So how will we remember this July 4th? As patriotic and brave as it may be to head to a national monument, brave the elevator shaft of the Sears Tower, or stare up from the base of the St. Louis Arch, spend time this year in reflection over the reason this liberty has been given to us.
Go ahead and have the barbecue, enjoy the hot dogs, the baseball games, the parades, and of course, the fireworks.
But also take time to give thanks for we have been given -- unmerited blessings as "One nation, under God." And in doing so, we have offered "liberty and justice for all" in ways that no other country has dared to attempt to do.
Did someone cry wolf?
Celebrate freedom!
We will toast the founding fathers, the flag, and give 'the finger' to the enemies of America.
For all the problems we wrestle with, this is still the greatest nation that has ever been.
A glorious Fourth to all!
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