I
love
our Fourth of July
Independence Day
celebrations.
I
love
the pomp and the ceremony and the drama and the color of it all. I
love
what it
stands
for. I
love
all its
rich
components. Taken together, they offer an experience that's
unmistakably and uniquely American: the sweltering heat of summer,
the parades, the floats, the marching bands, the people, the
barbecues, the fireworks (aah! the fireworks ...), all of it.
Yet I
wonder:
is this really us being
independent
and
free?
or is this merely us deploying the symbols of being
independent
and
free?
If these are merely the symbols of being
independent
and
free,
then I
wonder
if it's possible to effectively differentiate between the symbols
of being
independent
and
free,
and truly being
independent
and
free,
so that we're
clear
about being
independent
and
free
like a possibility of being for
human
beings
... and ... we have the
mastery
to bring it forth at will.
I assert it's appropriate to bring forth the distinction "being
independent
and
free"
like a possibility, then bring that possibility to bear on the
Fourth of July during the sweltering heat of summer, with the
parades, the floats, the marching bands, the people, the barbecues,
the fireworks (aah! the fireworks ...), all of it. If we did that,
we'd have being
independent
and
free
as an ongoing living, breathing, tangible reality, and not merely
have once-a-year symbols of the real thing ie of the real deal.
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