July Fourth

              

July Fourth

John W. Vander Velden

In a grand building, beneath a heavy layer of glass, remains a deeply yellowed page of parchment.  The writing scarcely legible of words many would find familiar.  A page that changed the way the world functioned…a page that changed how a people would react to tyranny.  July 2, 1776 fifty-six representatives of thirteen separate organizations signed a statement…a joint commitment to what at that time was an ongoing war…a joint commitment to a severing of ties…a joint commitment to something new.  We call those words…those words of faded ink on yellowed paper the Declaration of Independence.  And today we celebrate the announcement of those daring words and the birth of the nation we call our home.

Two hundred and forty-seven years ago after much heated debate Edward Rutledge at twenty-six and Benjamin Franklin who had reached seventy, along with the fifty-four, aged the years between, placed their names on paper.  All knew that day, if the war would be lost, they had signed their own death certificate, yet they signed.  All understood that no matter how just the cause, success was tentative, yet they signed. 

But those names are but tiniest minority of the thousands that laid their all at the feet of their country yet unformed.  They, the invisible masses, those that fought…bleed…and died, bore the burden; theirs the labor pains of this country’s birth.  Our country owes these, a debt that remains unpaid.  We that have received the benefit of their sacrifice should not forget the courage or the blood poured.   

So while the firework fills the sky, with thunderous booms and grand bursts of color, take a moment to consider a document on display at the National Archives.  Consider the names carefully scribed upon it.  Consider the thousands that gave their all for something that was then only a dream.  Consider the millions that also gave and continue to give their blood to maintain that dream, for though that dream has yet to reach perfection the duty for its growth lies with us.  It remains on our shoulders to carry on…to accept the challenge…to fulfill grand possibilities.  It is a cause worthy of our effort and something worth celebrating!    

(370 Words)

7-4-2023