The Fourth
Happy birthday to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Noel Hudson and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
According to today's Writer's Almanac: on this day in 1826, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died; on this day in 1845, Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin on Walden Pond outside of Concord, Massachusetts; on this day in 1855, Walt Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass; on this day in 1931, James Joyce married Nora Barnacle at the Kensington Registry Office in London.
Of course, fireworks are everywhere this holiday. We've been hearing them in the distance for several nights now and will probably continue to do so through the long weekend and into next week. Last night, at a few minutes after 11:00, I stepped out on our back patio to see what a group of late-teens-early-twenty-somethings had to offer in their fireworks show back in the cul-de-sac. I stood in the dark and listened to them on the other side of a line of small trees--former Christmas trees, I think, that the former owner(s) of our house had planted. Although the young men had been displaying some light and color in their show as I'd seen it earlier from the window, while I was outside it was just a series of whizzes and bangs and sparks. In between these I heard the popped tops of beer cans and phrases such as "Oh shit, watch out!" I thought it quite obvious that this portion of their show was almost completely out of their control, that they had no idea where each individual rocket was headed when the fuse burned down.
Something to think about: You've heard the phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" (in opposition to the usage of "Xmas" and to the rampant commercialization that has almost nothing meaningful to do with the birth of Christ). What would a similar phrase or sentiment be for Independence Day? If we try to imagine back to 4 July 1776, how do we compare the spirit of the event that culminated on that date to today's celebration? What will today's celebrations taking place in cities and towns and cul-de-sacs across the nation have to do with the Spirt if '76? What will today's words from Barack Obama or John McCain or George Bush have to do with words said by leaders in Philadelphia 232 years ago? How do my neighborhood boys stand in relation to the young men, many of them not so much older, who signed the Declaration of Independence?
According to today's Writer's Almanac: on this day in 1826, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died; on this day in 1845, Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin on Walden Pond outside of Concord, Massachusetts; on this day in 1855, Walt Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass; on this day in 1931, James Joyce married Nora Barnacle at the Kensington Registry Office in London.
Of course, fireworks are everywhere this holiday. We've been hearing them in the distance for several nights now and will probably continue to do so through the long weekend and into next week. Last night, at a few minutes after 11:00, I stepped out on our back patio to see what a group of late-teens-early-twenty-somethings had to offer in their fireworks show back in the cul-de-sac. I stood in the dark and listened to them on the other side of a line of small trees--former Christmas trees, I think, that the former owner(s) of our house had planted. Although the young men had been displaying some light and color in their show as I'd seen it earlier from the window, while I was outside it was just a series of whizzes and bangs and sparks. In between these I heard the popped tops of beer cans and phrases such as "Oh shit, watch out!" I thought it quite obvious that this portion of their show was almost completely out of their control, that they had no idea where each individual rocket was headed when the fuse burned down.
Something to think about: You've heard the phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" (in opposition to the usage of "Xmas" and to the rampant commercialization that has almost nothing meaningful to do with the birth of Christ). What would a similar phrase or sentiment be for Independence Day? If we try to imagine back to 4 July 1776, how do we compare the spirit of the event that culminated on that date to today's celebration? What will today's celebrations taking place in cities and towns and cul-de-sacs across the nation have to do with the Spirt if '76? What will today's words from Barack Obama or John McCain or George Bush have to do with words said by leaders in Philadelphia 232 years ago? How do my neighborhood boys stand in relation to the young men, many of them not so much older, who signed the Declaration of Independence?
posted by mac | 2:48 AM
5 Comments:
The independence declaration was written much in advance of 4 July. It was actually signed on 2 July. They let it sit for 2 days so that what they had done could sink in before they went public with it on 4 July. I think that is your answer. We don't let things "sit" for a while. We rush them into public without thinking. We "fire for effect."
Thanks for the chronology, Bo. It makes a good point. We "fire for effect" and then scramble to make a plan that makes sense of the aftermath. Kind of like the person who does something terrifically stupid or has an embarrassing fall and then says, "I meant to do that."
mac wrote: "You've heard the phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" (in opposition to the usage of "Xmas" and to the rampant commercialization that has almost nothing meaningful to do with the birth of Christ). What would a similar phrase or sentiment be for Independence Day?"
The United States of America!
"The" means "God's," that is, owned by God. This is why THEology is the study of God. In Greek, theos means God. The Hebrew word for God is "El", which is also the Spanish word for "the."
United means "greater." The word State means "estate."
America is an old Saxon and Danish compound word: Amer means "heavenly," and ric means "kingdom." It literally means "the Heavenly Kingdom," or the Kingdom of Heaven.
Putting it all together- The United States of America is "God's Greater Estate of the Heavenly Kingdom."
So just like everything else we do here in America...we continue to take God out of everything we can. I am sure in 1776 they were hoping to forever remain in the attitude of building God's Kingdom...and today we are seeing how far we can run from that idea. Thankfully, God will not leave or forsake us and one day the words of Jesus will be known to all man..."Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Happy 4th of July!
The idea seems right on--and arrived at through an interesting acrobatic exercise in international linguistics! Fun to read! Sad at the same time.
Happy 4th to you and yours, Mark.
Yea..I read that info from a historian who loves words and their origins. But it was fun to see how it comes to that meaning...and looking at our history, they certainly did try to create a country where God would be accepted and where God would accept ALL! Too bad history is constantly being re-written and we allow it to happen as we push farther away from our beginnings....this is a great country and it could be again...if only we could believe.
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