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It’s the Fourth of July and as an American I celebrate it as the birth of our country (though I did learn a few years ago on a trip to Philadelphia, that the “Declaration of Independence<\/i>“<\/a> was actually signed on July 2nd<\/a>). <\/i>For many this means a day off work filled with cookouts, a weekend at the beach (or the mountains), or time at the pool. Sparklers will burn and those stocked up on illegal fireworks from South Carolina will have a great time setting them off (we used ours up at New Years).<\/p>\n

I wonder though, do I really appreciate our freedom here? I hear lots of grumbling about government and its overreaching power, its weakness, and its failures. I hear a fair amount of  “this country is headed to hell in a handbasket”.<\/p>\n

What would happen if we decided we would spend one week with a positive outlook? Not sticking our heads in the sand over the real problems that exist, but looking for the good things and building on them?<\/p>\n

What if we realized that saying “under God<\/i>“<\/a> or not saying “under God” isn’t the problem – but the fact that for many people the Pledge of Allegiance<\/i><\/a> has become a rote saying (like The Apostles Creed<\/a><\/i>) that doesn’t really mean anything because we don’t really understand what it means.<\/p>\n

What if we understood that making sure our money says “In God We Trust”<\/a><\/i> isn’t the solution, but what we choose to do<\/i> with our money that will affect our communities?<\/p>\n

Am I advocating that we stop saying “under God” or take off “In God We Trust”? No, but I am saying, let’s make it mean something. So, for today (even I am not committing to a week – yet), I will be positive about our country. I will reflect on the Pledge of Allegiance and what does it really mean in my life. I will think about where I am spending my money and how it will benefit my community (yes, going to the grocery store benefits – it pays wages for all who work there) and try to make good choices.<\/p>\n

Today is the 4th of July. Let’s make it mean something more than a cookout and some sparklers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the Fourth of July and as an American I celebrate it as the birth of our country (though I did learn a few years ago on a trip to Philadelphia, that the “Declaration of Independence“ was actually signed on July 2nd). For many this means a day off work filled with cookouts, a weekend at …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7zbKo-ND","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}