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Texas Hill Country , History
Independence Day
We all should be proud to be Americans, and Independence Day is a great time to celebrate!
The Fourth of July is a uniquely American holiday, so it might seem strange for me to begin my thoughts on Independence Day with quotes from an English politician and a Scottish poet. But if you’ll bear with me, I think you’ll understand.
Patriotism and love of country are not unique to America. It was the Scottish poet and novelist, Sir Walter Scott, who penned the famous words: “Breathes there the man with soul so dead /Who never to himself hath said, /This is my own, my native land! /Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned, /As home his footsteps he hath turned /From wandering on a foreign strand!”
While some might carry patriotism too far, or use it as a tool to manipulate the thoughtless, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that special affection for the particular corner of God’s creation in which you live. It is a God-given sense of connection and belonging which, properly used, gives extra meaning to life and inspires extra achievement from its beneficiaries.
Our own homeland has many detractors, but the more criticism and apology I hear, the more I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s observations on democracy: “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
I believe a similar assessment could be made of our country; in the last 235 years, the United States of
America (with all its undeniable warts), has made more positive contributions to humanity than any other nation. The U.S.A.
has been the world’s leader in almost every field of human achievement; it has been the most generous nation in the world’s history. It has helped more, defended more, liberated more and given opportunity to more than anyone else, ever. And it all has its roots in a 1,322-word document, written mostly by a 33-year-old lawyer from Virginia, and signed by 56 foresighted and courageous men representing thirteen British colonies in North America.
It was a time when a very few wealthy and powerful men ruled empires, and vast populations lived in poverty and oppression. Somehow, in America, the idea of freedom and equality took root. When Thomas Paine published a 48-page pamphlet called Common Sense in January of 1776, a half-million copies were sold that year, and Americans thrilled to the fiery language: "O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath
been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her--Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."
Thomas Jefferson’s more thoughtful – but no less revolutionary – declaration was signed on July 4, 1776, immortalizing the signers’ belief 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.” They recognized the gravity of what they were doing; the final paragraph reads “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.” Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” They had the courage to go ahead, and while some lost their lives and their fortunes, their “sacred honor” remains intact to this day.
America has never been a Utopia; it was just 87 years later that Abraham Lincoln would say at the Gettysburg battlefield, “we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether . . . any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” BUT, “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
And this nation, under God, DID have a new birth of freedom! The people of France recognized that fact when they presented us with a Statue of Liberty, later inscribed with this message: "Give me your tired, your poor, /Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, /The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, /Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Millions of people from around the world came here, to America, breathing new energy and excitement into the American Dream as they realized their own dreams of “breathing free.”
The U.S.A. became an industrial giant, a leader in science, in technology and even in the arts. Perhaps more importantly, it became the “arsenal of democracy,” supplying the weapons and personnel that defeated some of the most sinister empires the world had ever
known. Perhaps in the years since World War II the lines have not been so clearly drawn, but America has almost always been there to help in disasters, almost always worked to ease suffering, to defend the weak, to feed the hungry, to help the poor and downtrodden and to find new solutions for age-old problems.
It’s not that our land is more beautiful or blessed with more resources than any other. It’s not that we are smarter or braver or stronger than people from other lands. It’s the liberty that those fifty-six men promised us on the Fourth of July -- the freedom to think, dream, worship and achieve -- that has made the United States of America a beacon to the world.
So get out there this Independence Day with your red, white and blue; celebrate with parades and parties and friends and fireworks. Salute the flag and sing patriotic songs without embarrassment. This is America, and God has blessed us all immensely. We have a lot to celebrate!
I’ll close with some words from Lee Greenwood’s song, which sent chills up and down my spine when I first heard it during the Gulf War in 1991, and which I still love to hear: “I’m proud to be an American,/where at least I know I’m free./And I won’t forget the men who died,/who gave that right to me. /And I’d gladly stand up/next to you and defend her still today./‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land./God bless the USA.”
The Fourth of July is a uniquely American holiday, so it might seem strange for me to begin my thoughts on Independence Day with quotes from an English politician and a Scottish poet. But if you’ll bear with me, I think you’ll understand.
Patriotism and love of country are not unique to America. It was the Scottish poet and novelist, Sir Walter Scott, who penned the famous words: “Breathes there the man with soul so dead /Who never to himself hath said, /This is my own, my native land! /Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned, /As home his footsteps he hath turned /From wandering on a foreign strand!”
While some might carry patriotism too far, or use it as a tool to manipulate the thoughtless, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that special affection for the particular corner of God’s creation in which you live. It is a God-given sense of connection and belonging which, properly used, gives extra meaning to life and inspires extra achievement from its beneficiaries.
Our own homeland has many detractors, but the more criticism and apology I hear, the more I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s observations on democracy: “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” I believe a similar assessment could be made of our country; in the last 233 years, the United States of America (with all its undeniable warts), has made more positive contributions to humanity than any other nation. The U.S.A. has been the world’s leader in almost every field of human achievement; it has been the most generous nation in the world’s history. It has helped more, defended more, liberated more and given opportunity to more than anyone else, ever. And it all has its roots in a 1,322-word document, written mostly by a 33-year-old lawyer from Virginia, and signed by 56 foresighted and courageous men representing thirteen British colonies in North America.
It was a time when a very few wealthy and powerful men ruled empires, and vast populations lived in poverty and oppression. Somehow, in America, the idea of freedom and equality took root. When Thomas Paine published a 48-page pamphlet called Common Sense in January of 1776, a half-million copies were sold that year, and Americans thrilled to the fiery language: "O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her--Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."
Thomas Jefferson’s more thoughtful – but no less revolutionary – declaration was signed on July 4, 1776, immortalizing the signers’ belief 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.” They recognized the gravity of what they were doing; the final paragraph reads “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.” Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” They had the courage to go ahead, and while some lost their lives and their fortunes, their “sacred honor” remains intact to this day.
America has never been a Utopia; it was just 87 years later that Abraham Lincoln would say at the Gettysburg battlefield, “we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether . . . any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” BUT, “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
And this nation, under God, DID have a new birth of freedom! The people of France recognized that fact when they presented us with a Statue of Liberty, inscribed with this message: "Give me your tired, your poor, /Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, /The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, /Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, /I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Millions of people from around the world came here, to America, breathing new energy and excitement into the American Dream as they realized their own dreams of “breathing free.”
The U.S.A. became an industrial giant, a leader in science, in technology and even in the arts. Perhaps more importantly, it became the “arsenal of democracy,” supplying the weapons and personnel that defeated some of the most sinister empires the world had ever known. Perhaps in the years since World War II the lines have not been so clearly drawn, but America has almost always been there to help in disasters, almost always worked to ease suffering, to defend the weak, to feed the hungry, to help the poor and downtrodden and to find new solutions for age-old problems.
It’s not that our land is more beautiful or blessed with more resources than any other. It’s not that we are smarter or braver or stronger than people from other lands. It’s the liberty that those fifty-six men promised us on the Fourth of July -- the freedom to think, dream, worship and achieve -- that has made the United States of America a beacon to the world.
So get out there this Independence Day with your red, white and blue; celebrate with parades and parties and friends and fireworks. Salute the flag and sing patriotic songs without embarrassment. This is America, and God has blessed us all immensely. We have a lot to celebrate!
I’ll close with some words from Lee Greenwood’s song, which sent chills up and down my spine when I first heard it during the Gulf War in 1991, and which I still love to hear: “I’m proud to be an American,/where at least I know I’m free./And I won’t forget the men who died,/who gave that right to me. /And I’d gladly stand up/next to you and defend her still today./‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land./God bless the USA.”
