Every year we at St. Barts celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, with our magnificent organ backing the parishioners, the clergy and the staff as we all sing the National Anthem following the 11 am service. It’s a St. Barts tradition that I love, and sometimes we get a little silly. (I seem to remember one year when someone called out “Play Ball” after the anthem was sung).
The Fourth of July—that is, the signing of the Declaration of Independence from England and its publication on July 4, 1776, was a powerful act of unity among the members of the Continental Congress. By signing it, the members of the Congress formally put King George, who had renounced his rule, on notice. No wonder the Continental Congress wrote that “for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” They needed each other and trusted in God and each other, as we at St. Barts do in our own ways, all these years later.
The fact that they succeeded in creating a New Republic on the shores of the new continent was so astonishing that the defeated British played the song “The World Turned Upside Down.” On this July 4th weekend, I’ll be celebrating the integrity of their pledge, and their bravery in standing up against the British Empire, and I will be grateful for the improvement of our once-young Republic as it has matured and opened its arms and heart to those who our founders may not have welcomed in creating a more perfect union that they and their successors--have handed down to us over these 200-plus years since they took the plunge.
Happy Independence Day,
