The legal separation of our original colonies occurred on July 2, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was edited, deliberated over, and approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4. Most historians believe it was not signed until August 2, 1776, a full month after its adoption. They could have chosen July 2 as the day we were officially liberated or August 2 if it was in fact the day it was officially signed, but they chose July 4, the day the Declaration was accepted as our new way of life. Does it matter which day we celebrate our freedom from oppression? No. The point is we are free; we are independent as a nation.
There are several different meanings for independence: individuality (freedom), self-reliance, self-government, impartiality (disinterest or neutrality). In our personal lives these all make sense, but on the 4th of July we should remember that that day – after so many lives were lost and hearts broken – we should recall that we gained our freedom as a NATION. We were a band of rebels who fought to live a better life with better rules for all of us. We became a United Whole. Not just a united front. We could live our lives with decent laws and in pursuit of happiness, but as a nation, as a whole. To choose what is best for our nation, our people, not ourselves – but for ourselves as a benefit from the creation and maintenance of the Whole.
Let us strive to remember that as United States citizens, every day we walk this earth we are a Whole. In our great days of success and victory as well as in our worst days of struggling, unrest, hostility, or brokenness. Let us rise to break what barriers still threaten our existence as a freed nation, AS A WHOLE, for a house divided will fall. History has given us this lesson time and again. Work for the common good, and our personal lives will benefit as well. (PS: this also is true of relationships – be united! Find a common goal and build on it.)
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