Go Fourth and celebrate your freedom

Just to show how lucky you are, only 4.23% of the world’s population lives in the United States. As of 2023, the odds are 1 in 36 that a person is born in America.
Beginning in the 17th century, people gravitated to this land they called the New World as a place where they could live in freedom. Personal freedom to pursue their dreams. Religious freedom to worship according to their traditional beliefs. Financial freedom to rise to their greatest potential. Freedom to be who they were designed to be.
Nations are comprised of people. It’s the mental attitude of the people that makes a society what it is. Our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights lay out the ideals on which our formal government was designed, a novel system modeled after the best nations in history. Our society as a whole has been slow to totally grasp the lofty concepts that all men are created equal and that liberty and justice are for all.
We’ve come a long way since 1776 yet still experience the pains of growing into our destiny as a nation. But we must be doing a lot right, because people all over the globe are still coming to America. The spirit of the people who came looking for a new world prevails to this day – people who hold the hope of a better tomorrow.
Who are the people of America? Freedom lovers. Dreamers. Courageous risk takers. Innovators. Inventors. People of principle and faith. People who stand for what they believe in. People who work for what they want. People with a spirit of advancement.
This is what we celebrate on the Fourth of July. So let the fireworks boom and sparkle. Let our hearts be touched by the lyrics of our patriotic songs. Let our flag floating in the breeze symbolize for us the ideals of freedom that have made this the greatest of nations. Greatest because its people are free to live and move and have their being as their individual spirit inspires them.
A free spirit is a condition of your being; it lives wherever you reside. The kingdom of God is not a country, ours or any other country. But, because we are Americans, we have the privilege to reside in a country where a free spirit is celebrated.  
Happy Independence Day!
Now ponder these: “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” -- Patrick Henry; “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” -- Albert Einstein; “No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free.” -- Buddha; “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” ­— Nelson Mandela