Fourth of July, Freedom, and God.

The last few days have given us a few things to be anxious about including a heightened threat of attack inside our own country. Yesterday, I posted a list of suspicious events, actions, etc. to be especially watchful for this holiday season and, in fact, every day in our current situation. Thwarted attacks are more numerous than we ever will know. The president refuses to give this it’s real name but the threat is real. In many ways, our God-given rights are at state in many other spiritual attacks.

This morning, our pastor reminded us that all freedoms come from God and He gives us the freedom to thank Him as well as ask for his protection. At the end of Mass, he looked around and said we should be proud of ourselves putting the enjoyment and festivities of the day after a morning at Mass with God in thanksgiving for all we have. He mused at one point that one has to wonder at the small turn out for morning Mass on a day that is a holiday for most people. He said given the reason for the holiday and the threats about the holiday, you’d expect to see the people that attend all the Masses of a Sunday here today. I guess many are of the mind set ‘that nothing like that would happen in my church, city, etc.’ and God knows I will be going to Mass on Sunday . . . probably. The time to ask for God’s blessings is not in an emergency but to beg His help and protection before we have a problem.

A Happy and Blessed Fourth of July!

Just a few pictorial reasons to be grateful for another year in which to celebrate our Country’s great holiday. There is so much going wrong in the world that it seems a great sadness to hear many people disrespecting the American flag because they basically aren’t getting what they want when they want it, no matter the consequences towards anyone else. Nothing worse than overhearing someone at a typical, American fast food haunt demeaning their perceived wrongs in America. I wonder if they ever stop to consider that they have this small freedom (among a great many more, larger ones!) to be sitting there mouthing off without fear of being hauled off to prison. I remember how people, years ago, laughed and joked when Russia got it’s first McDonald’s . . . because none of us ever thought twice about having some kind of fun, quick food eatery on just about every corner besides having the money to eat there. People need to remember that if they they continue to drag down the American flag into the dirt and disrespect and destroy it and it’s history, they are leaving a void and a void is always filled . . . and might not provide a future country with the cherished freedoms we have today. No, our government isn’t perfect but it is still the best one in the world.

God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Fourth of July and Pray for Our Country!

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.
~ The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

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 for evermore.
~ John Adams

One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact — the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality.
~ Adlai Stevenson

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
~ Thomas Paine

The Evolution of Revolution that Brought us the Fourth of July!

The evolution of the Fourth of July:

In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired as a salute. The first set of shots was fired in the morning and the second set in the evening of July 4th in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary of our freedom with an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts to the young country, thirteen-gun salutes, prayers, speeches, music, parades and fireworks. Ships were decked in red, white and blue.

In 1778, General George Washington ordered a double ration of rum for his soldiers on July Fourth.

Ambassadors, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow American in Paris France on that day.

July 4, 1779 fell on a Sunday and the holiday was celebrated the next day on a Monday.

In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to call July Fourth a state celebration.

In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, celebrated July Fourth with a music program organized by Johann Friedrich Peter. The musical word was called, “The Psalm of Joy.” This is still celebrated to this day and it is recorded as the first celebration of this sort.

1791 recorded the use of the name Independence Day.

The US Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees in 1870.

In 1938, Congress amended their decision and made Independence Day a paid federal holiday.

Quick! Who Remembers WHY We Celebrate the Fourth of July . . .

July is looming on the horizon and I am already getting that feeling of dread. An important, national holiday takes place on the fourth yet it will be another day of loud, blaring music and illegal fireworks smoking up the sky from early afternoon until the wee hours of the morning.

Don’t get me wrong, a celebration IS in order but if you asked the children running around with lit sparklers WHAT the event is about, would they know? Every year, there is some very sad story about a child being severely hurt by fireworks. A look around our neighborhood on that evening could count more than a few accidents ready to happen. I just don’t think that fireworks that light up the sky above tract homes are the ones for sale at the local stands. One year, some children burned down their house with illegal fireworks set off in their garage.

I often read about the early days of our country when the Fourth of July was a great holiday with speeches, homemade picnics, meeting friends at the park, and enjoying a band and fireworks in the evening. We sure have come a long way and I’m not sure it is a better way.

Anyway, in anticipation of the day’s events, we will prepare as has become our annual tradition – soaking down the roof in case of a flying cinders, wetting down the foliage for the spent yet burning firecracker papers that rain into our yard, and treats for the dogs who will, again, be traumatized by what they do not understand. I think I’m with them on that feeling!