Tuesday, July 6, 2010

With the Empire State building aglow in patriotic red, white and blue, America celebrated its independence once again this year to “oohs” and “ahs” and little boys and girls in stars and stripes waving flags into the night air.

We once again threw hot dogs on the grill, slathered up our hamburgers and took to our backyards and our block parties and took some time pool-side to celebrate this holiday weekend.

Interestingly enough, so many comments, Facebook posts and tweets marked this Fourth of July with two words synonymous and equally poignant in their usage.

People celebrated this “Independence” Day as America’s day of “birth.”

To use those two words together – “birth” and “independence” – seems to be no accident.

When we are born into the world we come into it (most of the time) head first. We’re cut from what we have been attached to as we’ve grown into people and we enter this world with a ceremonious independence.

To embrace that independence doesn’t always come naturally. For some, it is a matter of country. And those who (hopefully legally) leave their homes for ours do so with a desire to shed the limitations of oppressive or unflattering ways of government.

For some others, it is hard to imagine independence in the shadow of fear.

Independence is born and reborn. America is a symbol of that in her history of war, war with oppressive rule, war with each other, war as a fight for the greater good.

In independence we can accomplish many things. We can fuel an entrepreneurial spirit and build a better business, educate young minds into the greatest of their generation, change a life one at a time through public service, volunteer to give a hand where a little hope is needed.

America’s birthday may have ended in a spectacular show of light Sunday evening – but its message endures.