Celebrating our freedom

Thanks to the calendar, Americans and West Texans got a little bonus this year as they celebrate the birth of our nation. So Independence Day is stretched into three days, or even more, by those workers who either got Friday or Monday (or both) as compensation for a holiday that fell on a Saturday.

Therefore, that should give everyone enough time, even with the festive Firecracker Fandango thrown in, to take a few minutes to reflect on what the observance marks. This country, after all, is unique in a lot of different ways - not the least is the freedom to do or say a lot of things that would get you in a lot of trouble in other locales.

Most countries are grounded in geography, language and ethnicity, built upon which tribes flourished, migrated or conquered there.
The United States was built on a set of ideas and has welcomed people from the world over who share those ideas or want to participate in the free and prosperous commonwealth they make possible.

This weekend we celebrate not only the resolve of early Americans to be free of colonial overlords but the succinct and eloquent expression of those ideas in perhaps the most revolutionary document in history.

"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."

As the Declaration's author, Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that "I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of men," understood also, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."

Thus, during the time we celebrate our liberties, Americans have been oohing and aaahing over public fireworks displays, perhaps setting off some pyrotechnics themselves (we hope in a safe manner, especially here in the dry Permian Basin, or just enjoying some time at the lake, the mountain or some other relatively cool haven.

We can be glad, during such times, that the founders set up remarkably sturdy institutions designed to protect liberty.
Liberty is ever in danger, as it perhaps always will be. But it is so attractive, so charming, so rooted in the natural autonomy of human beings, that it keeps reasserting itself.

So celebrate independence, not only that of the body but of the mind and spirit. Enjoy - and be vigilant.