Of Fireworks and the Fourth

Settled with nearly a half-million other folks from this country and others, I gazed with rapt attention at the fireworks display performed above the Reflecting Pool. The show was alive with bursts of color, shimmering after effects, streams of glowing light over a backdrop of the Washington Monument being slowly obscured with smoke. The sound like repeated claps of thunder reverbrating from the tree-lined Mall and echoing chamber of Lincoln puncutated by the lull before the next storm of sound and light was propelled skyward by lines of lovingly placed and planned mortars. Why this burst of energy on a warm, humid evening in July, a scene repeated in many degrees of splendor across this nation and outposts of its citizens the world over? A love of country that has moved mountains and joined seas, led men to reach great heights and die to protect them, firm with the knowledge that there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome. This love celebrated on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration that gave rise to the nation for which it is displayed is awesome in its splendor. The show is symbolic of this nation's stunning rise to a peak not seen since the glory of Rome's rule.

The show is even greater when set among the monuments to men and events that brought America to be where she is today. The Great Emancipator gazes solemnly down the Mall past the memorial to those who died in a World at War, past the monument to the man who led our nation from colonies into union, at the building where the representatives of the people of this nation make the decisions as to the future of it. Across a basin stands monuments to the author of the Declaration that set us free and a park dedicated to a man who felt mankind should have Four Freedoms and believed our mission to be to fight and die, if we must, for them. All throughout the grounds are other rememberances, large and small, as tokens to those who shaped our land. Overlooking it from the south are the graves of the many men and women that chose to serve and die to keep it free. Over these preserved lands many wander seeking to understand or just seeking to see often without understanding or feeling the meaning behind the symbols and memories.

Sadly, now that the day is done most will return to their daily grind with little thought of the celebration just past and the signifigance of the display. Why do we pick just one day to show our pride and love for this nation when everyday we reap its bounty? There is no need for fancy displays to catch the eye and ear and enliven the soul, but a simple expression of appreciation for the opportunities we have and are allowed. What is patriotism? Is this one day spectacle all that there is? While "Remember the Troops" is on the lips of many, do we really take time to appreciate what they are fighting for? I feel that few do. We take for granted so many things: the right to a difference of opinion, the opportunity to move freely in space and society, the right to think as we wish and the right to have input on the expansion or diminishment of those rights. Instead of appreciating these rights many seem bent on diminishing or redefining them to their own gratification not seeking to help others achieve those same rights whether here around the hearth or abroad.

I cannot expect that every person will take the time to appreciate the land that they inhabit, but I can hope that each who is able to live fully those rights it endows will remember how it came to be and strive to be worthy to carry on in the traditions of those who came before.