We'll shoot some fireworks. We'll eat some grilled food. We'll enjoy the company of family and friends. We will celebrate Independence Day in much the same way as others do. It is the 4th of July, summer's premier holiday, and we will enjoy it.

One of the favorite movies in my house the last few months has been "National Treasure". Both of the kids enjoy it immensely. What I enjoy is that it has made them curious about the Declaration of Independence. It has sparked several discussions about what the Declaration was and what it meant.

I was an American History teacher for almost twenty years. I've taught colonial America a great many times. I've read the Declaration of Independence from start to finish dozens of times. Every single time I read those words I get a lump in my throat. My voice would sometimes quiver when I read it to my students. Have you read it recently?

In 1776 much of the world was ruled by kings, tyrants, emirs, and despots. The "divine right of kings" was accepted throughout much of the civilized world. Rulers drew their power from God. Those same rulers then decided what freedoms the rest of us were to have. Some rulers had allowed parliaments or councils of nobles to have a voice in the running of the country, but most of the world's peoples lived in a society controlled by very few.

Thomas Jefferson drew from thinkers such as John Locke when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. He took the best of Enlightenment thinking and weaved it together into one of the history's most powerful documents. I'm going to excerpt a bit of it here.

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.

Self evident? It was revolutionary. Unalienable rights? They can't be taken away. They aren't given by the church or by the king. They come directly from our creator. We're born with them. They can't be taken away by anyone.

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, drawing their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The consent of the governed? Kings thought their power came from the heavens? Do you mean to say that rulers draw their power from the people? That people have to give their permission for you to govern them? This is the single most powerful and profound line in the Declaration. Government is not legitimate unless its authority arises from the people it governs. Powerful stuff in 1776. Still powerful today.

This is what Locke called the "social compact". We voluntarily surrender some of our freedom to a legitimate government. A measure of freedom surrendered for a measure of security and stability. Its a tradeoff we make. It is a moving tradeoff as well. We are still negotiating the boundaries of this compact today. How much freedom for what kind of security?

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Don't like things the way they are? Change it! We don't exist to be loyal subjects of our government. The government exists to serve its people. SERVE ITS PEOPLE. Does this mean that every decision made by government will benefit everyone or make everyone happy? Of course not. What it does mean is that the purpose of government, its raison d'etre, is to enable citizens to live happy and productive lives. Kings and despots would've used these words for toilet paper. Our forefathers used it as the foundation for a new nation.

Yes, I know that many of the same men who wrote and signed the Declaration did not live up to its ideals. Yes, I know that our nation has been in a 230 year struggle to live up to those same ideals. Yes, I know that we struggle today to live up to them. Yes, I know that it means different things to different people.

We will continue to do so just as we do in our own personal lives. There is always the promise, the ideal, the potential, the goal. It is the struggle that defines who we are as human beings and who we are collectively as a nation. Its not enough to live our own lives in pursuit of liberty and happiness. How are we helping our brothers and sisters achieve these goals?

We face the same quandaries in our lives as Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hancock, and all the others did in theirs. Independence, yes. Freedom, yes. Liberty, yes. But what are we going to do with it? Men would die by the thousands on battlefields such as Saratoga, Bemis Heights, Yorktown, Germantown, Kings Mountain, and Ticonderoga just to give us the chance to take the Declaration of Independence and make it more than just words on parchment.

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.

Traitors one and all, weren' t they? I wonder how it felt to sign your name to a document that could've meant execution, confiscation of property or a long imprisonment. How it felt to scream out to the world, "We want to be free. We can do it better. We have a new way of living with each other. We are willing to risk everything to give it birth." Sacred honor indeed.

When you are enjoying this 4th of July with your family and enjoying your favorite drink, how about lifting a toast to those who gave us this chance? To life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To unalienable rights. To the consent of the governed. To sacred honor.

Happy Independence Day.
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