July 4th Meditation

July 4th is a celebration where we commemorate and celebrate our nation's freedom and independence. Listen now.

Good morning. This is Chaplain Kevin. Would you pause with me and reflect this morning as we celebrate this 4th of July. 

July 4th is a day of celebration where we commemorate our nation’s freedom and independence. We celebrate through fireworks and parades; family gatherings and barbecues. 

As we celebrate our nation’s freedom and express joy for our own personal liberties let us also recognize the reality of many Americans who are not granted the same rights and freedoms that we are. In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” Speech he described his vision of Freedom saying: 

“When we allow freedom to ring… when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old [Negro] spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" 

As we look ahead to the second half of this year, let us continue to celebrate our freedom while we ask God Almighty to help us ensure that all Americans are free, at last… 

Amen.