Today, there will be countless blog entries, numerous Facebook postings, and oh-so-many other expressions of what this holiday, and all our celebrations mean. For some, it's a time to celebrate the birth of our nation, our republic, arguably the most succesful, strongest and most powerful nation this world has ever seen. To others, today is a time to pay homage to, and remember all who have sacrificed, both military and civilian, to make this country what it is today. And to still others, a time to celebrate our freedoms and rights we are able to so freely exercise in this country. There will be postings of our Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, speeches and writings from Founding father to patriot, from Paine, Jefferson and Adams to Reagan, Hannity and Beck.
But I'd like to take a moment, and turn our thoughts towards something a little simpler, something more profound, something more basic and integral to this great, 234 year old experiment.
I celebrate an idea. I celebrate a belief.
A belief that we all are, by design, a free and sovereign people.
A belief that these rights to exist, to choose our own paths, and pursue that destiny are irrevokable and undeniable.
A beleief that, as a free and sovereign people, we alone have the right and freedom to choose who governs us, in which matter, and under which laws.
A belief that God created us all equal, but left wide open our potential, limited only by our choices.
And a belief that can be but one generation away from extinction. Reagan famously said that "if we lose freedom here, there's no where left to run- this is the last stand for freedom on Earth."
While this grand experiment in liberty is a third of the way through its third century, it is far from impossible to fail. Great nations have fallen to tyranny before. But today is a day to remind ourselves of our past, and rededicate ourselves to that simple belief that has been the cornerstone of our republic.
To me, second only to my salvation, my free-will, liberty and freedom are the most important gifts from God.
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