Today I had an interesting juxtaposition of experiences. I stood amidst buildings of ancient history where men found obtaining and maintaining power at all costs to be a paramount interest and then I stood at the gravesite where so many of my countrymen of recent history are buried after paying the ultimate price to free others from those who would be under the rule of despotic men. It’s an interesting thing to experience in one day.
One of the things I am most grateful for is the arc of history. I recognize that God uses very imperfect individuals to do great things. He allows beauty to arise from the ugly ashes of history and looking back we can see the Lord’s hand in the vast historical world tapestry.
One of the fruits of imperfect history is the founding of the American experiment. I love our nation, and appreciate the standard it has set for freedom throughout the world. What brought our nation into being wasn’t pretty, and we still have much work to do and wrongs to right, but the American ideal permeates the world and sets the standard for others to follow.
Celebrating Independence Day is a big deal. Giving thanks to God for leading our nation to be established is a big deal. Not whitewashing the past, but honestly admitting where we have failed and then earnestly and humbly striving to do better and atone for wrongs that affect generations is a big deal. Welcoming in the stranger and the needy is a big deal. Caring for the needy and having charity is a big deal. And living up to the ideal of a “more perfect union” is a big deal.
Being out of the country this Independence Day is an interesting opportunity to reflect on what makes me grateful about being American and what more I can do to promote the lofty dreams outlined in the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution. There is much I can do within my own community to spread the cause of freedom, and there is much that I can support in defending freedom throughout the world. I hope when I get back home to engage myself in such causes.
Meanwhile, sitting here in France I won’t enjoy any fireworks, but I can wish you all a very happy and safe 4th of July.
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 