Celebrate America!

Today is for celebrating America. It is more than just the bbq or the fireworks or the parades. It is all of those things combined and more. Today we celebrate not only the signing of the Declaration of Independence but our practice of that Declaration. The Fourth of July with all of it's Americana and patriotism is a wonderful reminder to look around and celebrate with our hearts, our heads and our hands everything and everyone that makes the U.S. truly great. Today we celebrate not only the United States of America, we celebrate Americans.

Some believe our greatness lies solely in the strength of our military, but our strength in arms cannot be reason to celebrate. Celebrate the strength of character, the heart and determination of the men and women that serve our country in that capacity. Celebrate their bravery, their sacrifice. Celebrate their families who carry the same burdens of sacrifice bravely. I may not always support a war or military action but I will always support the soldier. Today, I celebrate the freedom that so many have fought and died for.

Some believe our greatness depends on capital and commerce. I believe it is more deeply rooted in things bigger than the almighty buck. Ingenuity, a drive to do more, be more. Certainly, the ideas blaze through advertisements for bigger, faster, shinier but look at them again. Ingenuity: Striving, problem solving. A drive to do more good works, feed more people, embrace dignity. Today, I celebrate the amazing people who always seem to be giving, doing, being brilliant and then sharing, shining.

Some believe our greatness lies in our rebel hearts. After all, The Declaration, in it's essence is very akin to "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Don't Tread on Me can mean very different things to many different people. The revolutionary, the hippie, the Democrat, the Republican. Fight the good fight. Today, even though I may not always agree with you, I celebrate the passion, the righteous indignation, the amazing sense of justice that drives some people to stand up and say " I believe..." and then act.

Some believe our greatness lies in our diversity. I tend to agree. I believe our greatness lies in our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech; a quality of life that brings people from all over the world to our borders and shores. It lies in the hearts of our Hindis, our Jews, our Christians, our Muslims,(I could go on). It is fed in the kitchen of every home regardless of ethnicity. It (should be) celebrated in every school by every child. Today, as I celebrate every freedom that we are granted by living here in the USA, I also recognize that we still have a way to go to ensure those rights for all. Lest we forget:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."