It is the week to celebrate the independence of this
country, our freedoms and our opportunities.
Because of the sacrifices of so many people over the course of American
history, we have the freedom to express ourselves, experience the transformation
from naïve ideals to more life experience that inform our world-views. We have the freedom to choose so many things
that many other people do not—from education to jobs, from travel to foods,
from religion to media. To comprehend that
all these choices, these freedoms, these opportunities come from the
sacrifices, innovations and infrastructures of people before us and the
innovators of today is of monumental impact.
So often we take it all for granted.
Until we are reminded. Until we
know people who have lived in refugee camps who have risked it all to have even
a fraction of the freedom we have. Until
we see a flag draped casket or drive past a national cemetery or listen to the
lonely bugler play “Taps” at a funeral. Until
we receive a wedding invitation from a couple who have waited decades to be
married. Until we witness the ordination
of the first Hmong Episcopal priest in the world. Until we listen to the stories of soldiers,
of immigrants, of hope and of risk.
Dear Holy One, be with us as we shoot fireworks into the
air, eat picnic foods, gather with friends and relatives to celebrate living in
America. Ground us, even as we “ooo” and
“ahhh” as colors burst in the sky, to understand all the effort that was
offered for this freedom. Thank you for
these reminders. Amen.