INTERDEPENDENCE DAY

Scripture:  Galatians 5:1, 13-16 -"Standfast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage... ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

July 4th is nearly done again and Debora and I find ourselves watching from our front porch, skyward explosions initiated from not so far away. The temperature is easy-going for the time-of-year, and the hour nearing twilight, is just dark enough to invite fireflies with their lit abdomens competing with the fireworks. A distant variety of sounds accompanies the twinkling in the night... 'Gimme Shelter' plays in the background as the details of the close game of scrabble  diminishes from our affections, '296 to 298'. I won't say who won, but I will say it is not me all the time. We did the grill thing earlier, and with our sons enjoyed two sets of bowling which was certainly overpriced, but fun.

Our flag gently dances with the breeze on our front porch, stars and stripes, and red, white and blue. [I imagine it upright and shorn one day nearing dawn at Ft. McHenry]
Because of past events we speak English, differently.Our colonial antecedents took on England and won, at great cost, that we'd have a liberty unlike any other, and that distinctive history is still being written, often with contrary penning.
Independence will always prescribe the appetite for more or different freedoms, and so goes our current clamour and challenge. The stakes are high.
If only INTERDEPENDENCE was esteemed half as much, where we recognize the importance of one-another, and a diversity aspiring towards unity; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That would be interdependence, to love God most, and to love one's neighbor as one's self. That is biblical.That is interdependence.

We have had an Interdependence day, though it won’t be on the calendar as such. It is the day of our 'new birth', when the call upon us to say 'yes' to Jesus happened, and we exited from darkness to light. However the transition was for you, with the date, or dates, of your authentic profession occurring, may I say to you, and to all of us so moved, Happy Birthday and Happy Interdependence Day!

Also, with a hope and a prayer, Happy 4th of July! Happy Birthday America!
And to those remembered as founders, thank you for loading up our constitution, with some good God stuff...when prayer in the Congress was ordinary, and critical thinking included, often front and center, God's holy word as an anchor and our core counsel.

"If I keep my eyes on GOD, I won't trip over my own feet." Psalm 25:15     the Message
[Mine eyes are ever t'ward the LORD; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. KJV]

Prayer:  God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

(by Dr. McNeal Brockington)