The Fourth: It's Time We Remembered

It’s time we remembered.

Across the nations today people gather to celebrate. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and salsa. Parades, fireworks, dances. Maybe some speeches, but not too many. We wouldn’t want to get in the way of the celebrations. What exactly are we celebrating? It’s America’s birthday! Independence! Today’s the day our Founders signed the Declaration of Independence. Or voted on it. Or something like that. I forget, hand me another beer. WAHOO!!!

Today Americans party. Two hundred and thirty-two years ago, we couldn’t afford to take the time of work. Americans were locked in a titanic struggle against the superpower of the 18th century world. Less than two months after the Declaration of Independence was accepted by the Continental Congress, Washington was driven from New York with devastating losses by British General Howe. The ragtag American army was beaten again and again across New Jersey, before taking refuge across the Delaware River as the winter snows began to fall. “These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine, and indeed they were; 1776, the year of America’s birth, held some of the darkest days of the revolution. Today, we celebrate, because then, they sacrificed.

It’s time we remembered. Remembered what today is really about. It isn’t about parties or barbeques or parades, although I enjoy those things as much as anyone. It isn’t about speeches or rallies or protests. It isn’t about Republicans or Democrats. It isn’t even about freedom, really, at least not completely. It’s about sacrifice. Two hundred and thirty-two years ago our forefathers pledge to each other and to us, their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to maintain an idea. The idea that men could-and should-direct their own lives, free of unwarranted intrusion from anyone. Many did lose their fortunes, some their lives. They pledged to sacrifice their all and they did, to a degree that most modern Americans cannot begin to comprehend. It’s time we remembered what it means to sacrifice.

Today many of us are upset with the way things are going in our nation. We wish Congress would stop spending money; we wish the President wouldn’t kill flies on television (after all, that’s the worst thing he’s done, right?); we wish the Supreme Court would stop making things up from penumbras. Most of us don’t do anything about it though. Our excuse? We’re too busy. Well, with the average American watching something like 30 hours of television a week, I find that a lame excuse. If we can’t sacrifice a couple TV shows to find a way to make our voices heard in Washington, we deserve everything we get. Stand up and be counted. Scream. Call, write and email your reps in DC until they know your name and are afraid of it. Talk to your neighbors, organize. Chances are they feel the same way. Do something. If you think about it long enough, you’ll figure something out. After all, that’s what freedom really is, the right to solve your own problems.

This Fourth of July, let us take a moment and remember. Remember the cost of what we have. We are so blessed as a nation; we have no idea the way the rest of the world today and throughout history have lived. Remember the responsibility we have to maintain it for our children. Remember that, cliché as it may sound, freedom really isn’t free and, like it or not, we are the ones who have to pay that price. If we’re unwilling to, we are unworthy of our freedom.