The Re-Definition of the 4th of July.

Fireworks, parades, candy, cookouts, carnivals, etc.

All in the usual 95 degree blistering summer heat.

Who doesn't love the 4th?

It's one of my favorite holidays.

but lets not forget what it's actually about.

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

- John Adams (in a letter to his wife Abigail)

That, my friends, is what Independence day is about. The time when we said - "Sorry Great Britain, but God comes first here!"

Yes, times have changed and there are a plethora of different religions in the U.S. but it's the move (in general) away from ANY religion that worries me. In fact, we may very well be following right in Great Britain's footsteps. This movement of Secular Individualism as I like to call it is taking it's toll on America one day at a time - too slow for us mere humans to notice or care about. Our founding fathers all had a dream for this nation when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, and correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the current Government and legal systems are NOT what they had in mind. Just think if they were walking the streets today...

They would have quarrels with almost everything...not just because of the generation gap...but because we have lost many of the values they instituted in the first place.

"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."

This has been quoted so many times, it's almost cliche now. These words still resonate with any human being if their meaning is legitimately taken into consideration.

Why? Why is this simple sentence one of the greatest sentences formed in human history?

It's the word create.

We are created equal.

We are endowed by our Creator.

It somewhat defines what it means to be a human being. and it claims certain "truths" as being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We have now acknowledged a spiritual side of ...government? Since when? Oh yes, 1776.

Even though many of the founding fathers believed in the separation of church and state, that does not mean what it means today.

If it meant what it means now, back then....that sentence would not be in the Declaration of Independence.

I know this is a bad time to quote Rob Bell, but "everything is spiritual".

Including the 4th of July. Praying that you all have a great one =)