2017 Fourth of July Reflections
Dear Friends & Family:
Tomorrow one of America’s favorite holidays finally arrives. It is time for family and friends’…fireworks and BBQ….swimming at the beaches of Florida or a relaxing picnic in Central Park. It is a time to recharge and renew. Even during our most difficult times, the 4th of July is one of the families favorite holiday! It represents tradition…family cookouts, fireworks, movies, etc…creating bonds that will last a lifetime. It is also a good time for personal reflection and thanksgiving….the kindness and generosity of family and friends.
The 4th of July can be summed up by these two words: “Hope” & “Faith”. ”Hope” that our collective destiny is greater than we can imagine….that we were placed on this earth to do great deeds and “Hope” that“ Divine Providence” guides us today as it did in then. Remember that this Independence Day marks the 241st Birthday of our great nation and on this day in 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. From July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly, and people celebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia, bells rang, and ships fired guns, candles, and firecrackers ignited. However, the War of Independence dragged on until 1783, and in that year, Independence Day became an official holiday, and in 1941 Congress declared 4th of July a federal holiday. It is also a time of reflection and thanksgiving for us Americans. We must be thankful for those who gave the “last great measure” for a nation to be born.
Many others have sacrificed for this Nation to grow and flourish…With that in mind, let us recall those words that for many means "A place where we could be free to live and work and worship as we choose for ourselves." IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776, The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Enjoy yourselves, enjoy your family be safe and remember the journey that brought all of us together and why we enjoy freedom….Happy Fourth of July!
Semper Fi!
Play this loud and play it often...Madison Rising's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner."