Happy Independence Day Americans! Here’s to a fun (and safe) July 4th
holiday. Here’s to our country – “Land
of the free and home of the brave”.
Our Founding Fathers had certain ideals in mind when they
fought for our country’s independence. They
had a vision for the common man; free from oppression; living in harmony; pursuing
happiness. We have some work to do for that
vision to remain intact.
Today, the term “it’s a free country” too often takes on overly
individualized interpretations. Being
free doesn’t mean we can do whatever-the-duck we feel like:
Freedom means choosing your
burden.
Hephzibah Menuhin
One of the burdens we Americans carry is the concern for and
the caring of others. The Statue of
Liberty; symbol of our country’s liberty, is inscribed:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
I don’t think “breathe free” means being individualized or undisciplined,
do you? Freedom requires continuous adherence
to the rules:
Piloting your own plane may
suggest a desire for freedom. It usually
takes a lot of self-control, however, to earn the money necessary to buy your
own plane. And once you are at the
controls, concentration and rules are vital.
Undisciplined pilots do not live long.
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
Pick any popular pet peeve; texting while driving; parking
in handicapped spaces when not actually being handicapped; bringing pets on a
plane declaring “emotional support animals” (trivializing heroic service dogs
performing invaluable service to those truly in need). Does it seem like today’s list of “I’m
special; the rules don’t apply to me” is getting longer?
I believe our country’s center of power lies not with the
individual, but rather with each individual finding common ground for the
pursuit of the collective good for all.
John Wesley believes it’s not about “me”; it’s about how “we” share our
fortune with those less fortunate:
Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can.
In all the places you can.
At all the times you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as you can.
America is independent and the land of the free; but as it
has been said many times, freedom is not free:
Our flag does not fly because
the wind moves it. It flies with the
last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.
Unknown Sage
Yes, America is the land of the free because of the brave. And bravery is found in many more places than
on battlefields. We witness bravery
every day in every way by average people who are proud to be Americans! We inherited that from our Founding Fathers:
John Hancock, whose name has
become synonymous with the word signature, has the largest signature on the
Declaration of Independence. It is said
that after he signed it, he turned to his comrades and said, 'I don’t want the
King to have any problem finding my name’.
Laurie Beth Jones
So, let us all enjoy America’s independence today. And then tomorrow, let’s go back to work -
working to ensure this country remains what our Founding Fathers envisioned. Let us honor those with bravery – past and
present – those who gave their lives for our freedom; our independence; our
fortunes. Let us continue to work to make
this a country all of us - in common – an America to be proud of.
GAP
When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or…
we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.
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