Independence Day
Fourth of July 2024
Today, our nation celebrates its 248th birthday. We honor the signing of our Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, but we (should) do so much more.
As we mark this time, we should certainly celebrate, but we should also take time to reflect on what it means to be part of this nation.
Recently at an event where our Civil War was being discussed, the thought was proposed about how the men of the North signed up in droves to defend the Union and to stand firm and resolute in the desire to ensure the preservation of rights as well as to rectify that those very rights guaranteed and given by God were not properly given to all Americans.
One of the veterans of that war noted beautifully at the dedication of a memorial to the honored dead the following verses that are just as poignant today as they were when he spoke them in 1895:
That you young friends, successors of these men, as seekers after knowledge…you who stand today where they stood a third of a century ago, may more clearly comprehend the glorious sacrifice made – look about you! Behold the beauties of the world, consider the opportunities of achieving greatness; of accomplishing the designs of your fondest dreams, the possibilities of consummating your most exalted ambitions; consider well these things, and then ask yourselves the questions. What consideration, what influence, what power could induce you to yield up such hopes, such ambitions, such possibilities, simply for the nation’s good?
~ Captain C.P. Lincoln, June 21, 1895
These eloquent words and sentiments, though, should cause us to reflect on the ending question of Cpt. Lincoln (no direct relation to President Lincoln). What would we give up for our nation and its good? We live in a nation we are so often told is divided unlike any time since the 1860s, yet do we work for the nation’s good? What does that phrase even mean?
In my view, I argue we need to return to first thinking about what is best for the nation. By this I do not mean simply for us to each look at things in a purely partisan way, as in what is best for the country is the next political fight, election, issue, etc. Of course, those are important things to be concerned about, to voice our opinion, to vote, and to work toward as we see the course of our country moving away from where it started and the ideals, we (should) celebrate on this our Independence Day. What I am aiming at, though, is for us to first remember those very principles that caused men such as Cpt. Lincoln and nearly countless others over the past two and a half centuries to take up arms, stand a line, and go in harm’s way to defend not only the country, but truly its principles, its ideals, and its people.
So, as we celebrate our country’s independence, we remember those brave men and women of the founding generation that stood strong and resolute against the tyranny of Great Britain, the ending of salutary neglect, and the refusal to address our concerns with anything but sending redcoats to our shores.
We should remember what would transpire later in Philadelphia when so many of that generation reformed to write our Constitution. It was left to none other than Benjamin Franklin to put the entirety of the work in context when asked if we had a monarch or a republic, famously quipping, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
We should seek first after God and His favor and, as schools, seek to train our students to live in seeking after Him above all else – to use the talents He blesses each of us with in order to glorify Him. In the words of a college senior addressing his class in 1861 at the dawning of the Civil War, I.H. Bates noted that:
Students more than any other class of men belong to their country. It needs scholars, needs ministers, needs statesmen, needs soldiers, now. And most of all, needs brave and Christian men who know how to use the ballot-box or wield the sword.
You see, our nation is always at risk – it is up to us, the people, to ensure the republic is kept in place and is playing its proper role in defending our rights and promoting our inherent benefit of self-governance.
That is what we celebrate historically – that we stood up and declared our determination to practice self-government in the form (ultimately) of a constitutional republic. This was (and is) an unprecedented event in the history of the world. This is what we honor today – that 248 years later, we are still working to ensure our God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are preserved.
So, happy Independence Day to all our fellow citizens. To summarize John Adams, one of the five who crafted the Declaration of Independence, the Fourth of July, he argued, would long be remembered with celebrations of Americans for what started that day. Well it should be celebrated, but the real work continues – we must continue to be guardians of our history, our tradition, and our rights.