Just kidding around the other day I said, "Happy Independence Day" to one of the younger folks at church. She looked at me like I had sprouted another eye-ball and said, "It's not Independence Day, it's the Fourth of July!"
OK, call me a stickler. But, to me that's like saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I mean, it's not exactly incorrect. At the same time, however, it's not totally accurate either. Yes, we can jump into the circle of rhetoric and make a case that July 4 would have little meaning apart from the event that it celebrates. That Independence Day is commemorated on July 4 is meaningful, our day to honor the American Revolution and its outcome, our Independence from England. But, we don't say Merry December 25 or Happy January 1. If I said Happy February 14 to Harriet I may get whacked up-side the head. The date is incidental. What happened then is remarkable.
So, entrenched as your local holiday correctness police, let me wish you HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. Celebrate it thankfully and safely. Enjoy the leisure and recreation that the day affords, and give thanks to all the people that make the world go around while the rest of us celebrate. If you want to say a prayer of thanksgiving for the courageous men who actually framed and signed the Declaration of Independence, go here for a list. Read their short biographies and offer a word of gratitude to the Sovereign God who placed them at just the right place at just the right time. They really risked a lot to declare freedom for the colonies, and to provide the legacy that is ours today.
Need a little food for thought. Here's a wise and pithy quite from one of the odder characters of the revolutionary generation. While greatly admired by many of the founders, he was eccentric and more than often misunderstood. It's a good quote for the day---
Wherefore, instead of gazing at each other with suspicious or doubtful curiosity, let each of us hold out to his neighbor the hearty hand of friendship, and unite in drawing a line, which, like an act of oblivion, shall bury in forgetfulness every former dissention. Let the names of Whig and Tory be extinct; and let none other be heard among us, than those of good citizen, and open and resolute friend, and a virtuous supporter of the rights of mankind, and of the free and independent states of America. From Common Sense, Thomas Paine (January 10, 1776).
He wanted all the human distinctions to fade into the background, except the common traits of being good citizens, open and resolute friends, supporters of the rights of mankind, and of course, supporters of the free and independent United States. Good sentiments.
I wish I had said that. But, since I didn't, I'm glad he did. Happy Independence Day.
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