The 4th of July

Today is the 4th of July. Fireworks, hot dogs and cookouts in the park, family get-togethers will be spread across the nation.

However, with so many holidays these days we get so caught up in the celebration that we fail to remember the reason we are celebrating.

238 years ago a group of men risked (and many lost) their lives signing the document that brought this country into being. They were rebelling against taxation without representation and against what they considered the tyranny of a foreign king.

What we are celebrating is a birth of freedom, purchased at a high price, and repurchased over the years by the blood and service of our finest young men and women. When those men gathered to found this nation they knew what they were risking. They did not do so lightly. They spent as much time on their knees asking for divine guidance as they did debating the issues.

Today we find much of what those founding fathers fought and died for under attack, not from without but from within. Time honored principles that have made this nation great are being challenged. Patriotism is being replaced by partisan politics. People sent to government to represent the will of the people instead are taking it upon themselves to tell the people what is good for them and what is not. This can only happen if the people ALLOW it to happen.

Let us not just celebrate the holiday, let us celebrate what made this nation great, principles that are NOT outmoded. Let's celebrate the  4th by rededicating ourselves to a new birth of freedom, a new resurgence of patriotism. If those who came before us were willing to die in this cause shouldn't we at least be willing to stand up and make our voices heard?