Humans have always been the creators of our own destiny. History is a book of people full of life and dreams pursuing those dreams wherever a glimmer of hope existed. As the United States celebrates yet another year of being the Free World, we must remember where we came to understand where we must go. Dreams still exist and hope still pervades.

Today we live in a world where a billion people don’t get enough food to survive. That number will only go up without collective action.

Today we live in a world where the climate is changing. We must make a collective effort to change our treatment of our one planet.

Today we live in a world that sometimes seems to become less tolerant over time, instead of the other way around. Our worlds must soften to offer respect, hope and love.

“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.”

The words Life, Liberty and Happiness are all capitalized. They are capitalized because they are a part of the human condition and can’t be taken away. Much as governments before this one and more to come have tried to take them away, Life, Liberty and Happiness are unalienable Rights. They are haves to survive.

Today as we celebrate the birth of freedom, recognize that we’ve come a long way and sacrificed much to get here. But what will the next year, the next five years, the next hundred years tell us about our torch? Did we grasp it and hold on tight to pass it on to the next generation of Freedom’s Children? Or did we squander this birth-right, this New World, that was created out of a simple statement: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Pledge today to carry the torch firmly and pass it on to future generations.

(photo courtesy of karmablue via Flickr)

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Categories: Column, Life, Politics
Tags: America, birthday, government, USA