Friday; July 3
On July 4, 1776 a group of people in Philadelphia read a document that stated they would no longer submit themselves to European control. They believed that they had the ability to govern themselves in a better way so they declared themselves independent from the British government. As they signed their names, they pledged that they represented the will of the people to make this choice. It was the beginning of a way of life that – in good times and in bad – has existed for the past two centuries. This time of year I like to reread the Declaration of Independence and, when I do, I typically find something new or see things in a different way than I have in the past. This year, as I read the document, I was drawn to some verbiage from the last paragraph in which they were “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world” and did so “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence”. For years, I have understood the founding father’s belief that the rights they asse