As everyone knows, yesterday was our 235th birthday. There were fireworks in every single community, it seemed. At least around Milwaukee. In fact we sat in the car and watched fireworks from at least three different cities last night. Where else can you do that? If there is one thing we’ve learned to do over those years, it’s how to celebrate.
I was worried going into the weekend that few people recognized exactly what we were celebrating, but when I saw two people in line in the grocery store Saturday morning with American flags and the Declaration of Independence printed on their shirts, and saw the flags popping up on lawns all over town, I began to change my tune pretty quickly. I really believe most everyone gets why July 4th is a big day.
After seeing those shirts, I was compelled to read the Declaration of Independence yesterday morning. Thanks to the Journal Sentinel for running it. It’s been a while since I read it and I’m glad I did. This was some heady stuff for 1776 and the words still ring true more than two centuries later. If you haven’t read it recently, you should.
The thing that impressed me the most, I think, was that 56 grown men actually were of like enough mind to agree on something and put their signatures on it. Conservatives and liberals, it didn’t matter, they were all unified in their commitment that our thirteen colonies should be free from the tyranny of the British Crown. 56 people in government agreed on something. If only we could find that today in Madison or Washington, or Minnesota for that matter, or even among the leaders of the NFL or NBA.
So in addition to the fireworks and picnics and cookouts and parades, and putting American flags around the yard, a historical perspective made the day even better for me. I’m thinking if our elected officials or the folks who run football and basketball read the words that Thomas Jefferson wrote 235 years ago, maybe we could return to being the kind of country that our founding fathers envisioned.
“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…
..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.”
Happy birthday America. Many more.
