Fourth of July Present Tense

I don't like to dwell on the origins of July 4th--not the origins of its being a holiday, but the reason we have an Independence Day. The facts are glorious, I suppose, in the soft light of nostalgia, but they are bloody and disturbing nevertheless. Anyone who thinks revolution is glorious has never seen one up close. Today we can see, sort of, protests and revolutionary clashes through instant media. But the people who form my typical, daily world are far removed from the kind of situation that led to the United States of America. The only exceptions are the few people I know who have ended up here for political asylum.

Fourth of July, present tense, is just another holiday--even better, a summer holiday--when we eat more, play more, hang out with friends and family more. There are fireworks, a lot of them, and in large concentrations. Also, parades and community-wide parties. It's all about celebration and having a good time while relaxing with your favorite drink and plate of food.

I have no idea what it cost families in our colonies who chose to revolt, or not revolt, against the British monarchy. Certainly a lot of people suffered during the American Revolution, who never saw the end result, who died in a state of confusion and at odds with neighbors, fellow Christians, and in some cases, most of the people around them. It was a devastating time, a messy time with violence, acts of treachery, and treason--but remember that treason was defined by whichever group was talking. Neighbors called one another traitors. Everyone was on the right side of the issue and yet there were at least two right sides . . .

Today, I think we should turn our thoughts of July 4th toward the messy disagreements that tear apart our communities now, because there are numerous messy issues and so many right sides that it's easy to lose our sense of direction altogether. We cluster on our chosen sides in regard to immigration, education, drugs, guns, healthcare, marriage, religious rights, political reform, environmental policies, and so on. We call one another, not traitor but certainly unpatriotic, which is close to the same thing. We accuse one another of not fighting for the community or protecting the right interests. We think we know who the community is, but then it shifts around on us. People change labels, positions, move into new paradigms.

And our sub-communities spend so much energy fighting one another that we fail to see the larger enemies of us all--the greed and corruption that divert political power and resources from the common good, the powerful players who prevent us from identifying systemic problems and solving them.

Maybe to begin, we could refrain from thinking in terms of whose on which side. Could we imagine a huge circle of life, or globe dotted with small, intimate villages? Could we go into each encounter with the idea that this person is simply here with me, in the present tense?