"We Mutually Pledge to Each Other..."

Our nation celebrates it's 237th birthday today.  Parties, parades, speeches and fireworks will fill the day and night.  Why shouldn't we celebrate!  There is a rich history and wondrous heritage that is shared by those who call themselves "citizen."  Many of us were born into this treasured identity and have grown up learning and sharing the stories of sacrifice and perseverance that built this nation.  Others have intentionally chosen citizenship, drawn to this country by its opportunity and its freedom.  The United States of America has been a place of welcome where many have found a home, encouraged by the hope of liberty.  Nineteenth century poet, Emma Lazarus, whose sonnet, "The New Colossus," framed the invitation of freedom in the context of one of our national treasures, the Statue of Liberty, wrote, "From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome..."  Indeed, the world has been welcomed here, many have embraced that invitation, and our nation has been strengthened and enriched as a result.

 

This great melting pot of religion, ethnicity, race, and varying culture speaks to the uniqueness of each person, but also to the significance of community and sacrifice.  Freedom offers great opportunity, but also great responsibility.  It seems that we have struggled with these particular characteristics of liberty of late, caught up more in our political agendas and personal interests rather than in focusing on a willingness to work together for the greater good.  In an editorial in this morning's Washington Post entitled, "A Call to Service,"  EJ Dionne cites a powerful sentence in the Declaration of Independence that he says we often forget; "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."   He then comments on what he calls our nation's current "season of discontent," as he writes, "...we are more likely to invoke the word 'we' in the context of 'us versus them' than in the more capacious sense that includes every single American."  These are sobering words for they warn us about the dangers of defining our focus too narrowly.  Debate and disagreement are gifts of freedom to be tolerated as open doors to greater communication and consideration.  The greatness of our nation is not found in a particular party or political persuasion, but in the recognition that freedom's "world-wide welcome" calls us to a willingness to work and walk together, despite our differences.

 

And so, there is much to celebrate today, much to be grateful for, and much still to do in this great land of freedom.  With gratitude to God for blessings too numerous to count, let us celebrate this special day, committing ourselves anew to service, and in the same spirit of those brave souls who committed themselves to this grand experiment of freedom 237 years ago, let us "mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

 

Happy 4th of July!

 

Jim Abernathy