It’s that time of year….

July 4, 2009 |

I know.  It’s July 4th and the order of the day is to barbeque things and wave flags.  There will be fireworks and fun, and I’ll be in the midst of it all, believe me.

Yet…..  it would be a really good opportunity to think about what Independence Day might mean, and to take a few of those thoughts with us from 233 years ago. All those years ago the intent was to get free of the rule imposed from outside – King George wanted the colonies to be something they really couldn’t be; unquestioning, subservient, and docile.  He wanted to control what they thought. Those same issues are  important today.

Do we, in our day to day lives, slip into unquestioning acquiescence?  Are we subservient to the existing status quo? Do we quietly accept whatever it is our bosses, our politicians, and our society asks us to accept? If so, then we are refusing the gift of the American Revolution that gave us the opportunity to ask, to question, and to challenge.

I wasn’t born in the USA.  I was born in England, which has no written constitution and so, presumably, can at any moment withdraw any right it wishes to from whomsoever it wishes. This is not the case in the USA.  We have been given the right to question and the freedom to live our lives according to our beliefs.  But do we do this? Some people live their lives according to what advertsiemenst tell them to do.

Let us, this July 4th, give thanks to those who gave us this freedom, and make sure we don’t squander what we’ve been given. Question, discuss, and find your own authentic way forward.  And be grateful we can. That’s the real gift of the Day.  Enjoy those fireworks.  They cost significant amounts of human blood, sweat, and tears.