The Fourth of July.  Long weekends, fireworks, picnics and all sorts of fun.  It’s the American way and I enjoy those holidays a lot.  It’s another great opportunity to recharge my batteries and chill.

However, as I get older – and as I chill - I find myself reflecting on what July 4^th really means.  I mean, really, think about it:  We truly do live in the greatest country on this planet.  Because of the tremendous freedoms we enjoy as a country, tens of thousands of people come to the United States of America to enjoy the same freedoms as we do.

Sure, we see evidence of some coming here to stir up trouble or to do our country harm.  However, far many more come here with the purest of motives and the grandest, sweetest of dreams of true freedom.  Their journey here is their own personal declaration of independence – an independence from the tyranny of their homeland that they still love; an independence from inequality on various levels; an independence to succeed or fail.

What makes America so great?  I think it all goes back to what our founding fathers wrote in this country’s Declaration of Independence:

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.

May we, and those who travel from all over the globe to call America home, always hold these truths to be self-evident.

Happy Birthday, United States of America. May your freedom’s light burn forever warm.