Tomorrow, our country will celebrate its 250th year of Independence, or at least independence for some of us.

Those folks from every part of the thirteen colonies near the Atlantic Ocean were Caucasian men who were wealthy, well-educated, community and political leaders, a mix of professions including lawyers, merchants, and plantation owners who signed a document that didn’t set them apart from all of the others who were not so privileged .

There are people today and throughout our 250 years of being here that believe they know or knew what the founding fathers really meant. i’m pretty sure they don’t really know. i do know i don’t know. Goodness gracious, it was two and half centuries ago. Everybody had a different experience. The cultures were rift with bondage, royalty was supreme, the indigent, the workers, suffered. Soldiers and sailors went to battle and died, not for freedom, but because of edicts from kings or queens or czars or emirs. How can we assume we know what they were thinking?

We can’t, regardless of how smart we think we are.

So, what counts are the words these patriots vowed to uphold:

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.

And for those who wish to quibble with political correctness, i grew up understanding and still believe today that “man” in this context is inclusive of both genders. 

For those of you who don’t believe in our Constitution, i served a goodly portion of my life defending it, and part of that defense included your right to express your opinion. It’s called Freedom of Speech, even while you are  attempting to restrict others’ Freedom of Speech.

That makes me sad. i enter the Fourth of July, the day to celebrate our Independence with a mix of sadness, celebration, and hope. i hope everyone who is a United States citizen stops during the wide and diverse celebrations tomorrow and takes a moment to contemplate those words signed by our founders. 

That is what we should be celebrating.

May you have a blessed Independence Day.