Independence - Monday Musing, July 4, 2022

Dear Church,

Independence. The annual celebration of the United States’ nationhood is observed as “Independence Day,” which is also called the Fourth of July. It commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The Congress had voted in favor of independence from Great Britain on July 2nd, but did not actually complete the process of revising the Declaration of Independence, originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson in consultation with other committee members, until two days later.

Two-hundred-and-forty-six years later, and while we may have gained independence from Great Britain, are we truly independent? Our country was established on a set of ideals, that we would be a grand experiment in democracy, a republic that would seek the welfare of its people. Our country has worked hard to achieve unalienable rights, creating equality as it seeks to become a “more perfect union.” But the trajectory of our country’s founding principles has hardly taken an expansive view, widening the scope of freedom and independence for all of its inhabitants. Total freedom is only enjoyed by a few.