It will be a very quiet Fourth of July in our house this year. Our neighbor who used to host parties has moved away so nothing will be happening on our street as a community effort. My father-in-law is on a special diet after a short hospitalization a week ago so we won’t be enjoying barbecue either. In the past we have often been traveling on July 4, but this year we will be staying home because I will be going to physical therapy twice a week until the end of the month. Nonetheless I have decked my home in lots of red, white and blue because I love this country of ours with every fiber of my being even as I am worried about its future right now. 

I suppose that if I had not been a teacher I might have enjoyed being a lawyer or focusing on a political career. My favorite books have often been historical and more often than not they have told the story of our nation and its founders and leaders. I’ve read about the Pilgrims who came across the ocean hoping to find freedom from persecution because they did not want to be forced to adhere to the national religion of their country. I’ve learned about the humanity and dreams of Founding Fathers like Alexander Hamilton who rose from an impoverished and neglected childhood to become a respected innovator in the years of George Washington’s presidency. I’ve marveled at the brilliance and wisdom of Benjamin Franklin and the progressive intellect of Abigail Adams. The list of biographies and historical tracts that I have consumed since my high school days is far too long to iterate, but needless to say I have followed the journey of the United States from its beginning to the present with the tales of those who sometimes faltered and those who rose to unmitigated heroism in pursuit of the dreams that we celebrate each July Fourth. 

I understand both the greatness and the dire imperfections of the United States of America. Part of its glory lies in a willingness to tell even uncomfortable truths about its evolution. The imperfections are shameful, but there has always been a group of individuals determined to set things right. Those efforts have sometimes taken decades or even centuries to properly address. We are a nation not of a single way of thinking, a single culture or religion because that is the way those who came here envisioned the future. Often the ideal was tainted by the kind of ignorance and greed that allowed slavery to exist far too long. While Abigail Adams urged her husband not to forget the ladies it would be well over a century before women were able to vote. Our forebears’ interactions with the Native People of our land would have been more noble if we had considered the original inhabitants to be equal to those who immigrated here from across the ocean. We have hurt many in the imperfect quest to provide all people opportunities for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Incrementally we have made strides but there is still work to do on this July 4, 2024 if we are to fully embrace the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. We are broken and divided at the moment as to how to achieve our goals and even as to what our goals should be. We are more inclined to quibble over small things right now than to imagine a more perfect union of many people and cultures. We are still trying to decide if there is only one way of doing things or many ideas that must be legitimized. 

Today I see that we the people of the United States of America must demand that our chosen leaders remain mindful of the needs of all rather than a single group. Surely we have learned that ignoring our flaws has never proven to make us better. Surely we should want to correct our mistakes, not compound them by designing our laws to reflect a single way of thinking. We need to read the Declaration of Independence and the words of those who signed that document. We must reflect on history and use its lessons to do better. We must move forward, adapting to the changing nature of the world as it is, not as it was long ago. We must do our best to finally embrace all the people who make up our nation and even those who wish to one day be part of our nation. 

I love my country but I know that it is at a very dangerous moment in its history. I celebrate the best of what the United States has produced, a nation of many colors, many ideas, many yearnings. I do not want to squelch the variety of anyone in a misguided effort to make us all the same. Nobody came here at any time just to become carbon copies of a single way of thinking and believing. They came because they longed for the freedom to be themselves without being harassed to change. We have not always been kind to those who are different but the ideal of all being equal is still in the words that are heralded this very day. Lest we forget this would be a wonderful time to renew a vow to liberty, equality and justice for all. Our Founders gave us a blueprint expecting us to make things even better as we grew as a nation and as we matured as citizens. If we remember the dream that was incomplete on that long ago day our country will evolve many times to accommodate those who must be part of our incredible family.

Enjoy the freedom today and celebrate our liberties always bearing in mind that they are ours only if we are mindful of how to keep them. We are the protectors of our democratic republic and we must be wary of handing it over to anyone set on dividing us and tearing us apart. We are better when we accept each other without all the negative “isms” that those Pilgrims were trying to escape. We honor our nation most when we remember why it came about and how it has rightfully changed to be a better and better version of itself. Take time to think of what this day is all about.