An Unusual Fourth of July

Independence Day is another name for July 4th. I started thinking about freedom and independence and what it means to me. 

Janis Joplin sang: 

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
Freedom ain't worth nothing but it's free." 

Recently Martina McBride recorded a song about a woman who gets her revenge on an abusive husband:

 "Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing let the whole world know that

Today is a day of reckoning let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong 

Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it’s independence day".

Well! I guess if I had to choose (and I don't) I would roll Janis' way. I never really looked for freedom. I liked having encumbrances and responsibilities. I liked having people depend on me. These days I feel rudderless, without an anchor, and I don't really like it. 

For me, July 4th is right up there with Thanksgiving as an important family holiday. Our dear friends who usually host the get-together at their lake home are unable to this year due to an accident. Our host and hostess go out of their way to make it a special day for us. I wish I could take away our hostesses pain and make it a special day for her. So far I will be alone. I know there will be people here at the condo hosting their families by the pool. Maybe one or both of my girls will come by. I would like to see my son-in-law and grandson. Maybe I will be invited somewhere. (Hint?)

I have also been thinking about my responsibility as an American. The founding of this country as a democracy was an experiment never seen before. On paper it was wonderful. What a goal, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Of course it was more wonderful for land owning white men than it was for their wives or slaves, servants, or native peoples as the case might be. As those founders died off their words lived on. So many people have come here looking for a better life, either financially, politically or spiritually and many have found what they are looking for. We are a people who pursue happiness. Drive by the parks this weekend and see the families being happy together. (Hey, who forgot the ice?) It is the national pastime and each of us as free to pursue it in the manner we please.

On paper it still is a pretty wonderful thing and over the years we have tried to foist it on peoples around the world who haven't the historical context to apply it in their cultures. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and sometimes corruption takes place instead. I want America to be the good neighbor, setting by example a standard  for the world to emulate. I want the words on the paper to be ones we actually live by. One sad thing for me was finding out that what I thought was altruism was just capitalism. Another is knowing that we talk about freedom of speech, but in truth, pointing out the Emperor isn't wearing clothes can get me into trouble. I have never believed in "my country right or wrong." Nor do I believe our way is the only one that God approves of or that God blesses America more than any other nation.

Our time here on Earth is finite. Our lives are but a grain of sand in the vastness of the universe. Our form of government can't even be measured in the wheel of time, two hundred plus years is too small to notice. This Independence Day I say, "God bless the whole world, no exceptions." 

Be well and heal soon dear Clara.