I am as guilty as anyone else of taking advantage of a day off and using it as an excuse to do nothing.  Fourth of July?  Just a day of rest for me.  I'm not into the big fireworks extravaganzas, as they mostly mean traffic, crowds, and more annoyance than I can deal with in the span of time it takes to utter the ooooohs and aaaaahs accompanying a fireworks display.  This year, I did my patriotic duty by reminding all my friends on every social network I belong to, to pause for a moment and at least say a prayer for our soldiers.  It was, THE VERY LEAST  I could do.  On the homefront, however, I took the day to catch up on the HBO series, "John Adams."  Yep... I sat through 8+ hours  of history unfolding before my very eyes.  It was wonderful!  Don't know how true to the actual facts it was, but I was fascinated by the retelling of a story I've heard every year for as long as I can recall. We Americans take so much for granted, as if we're entitled to live as we do, instead of recognizing the great gift, and the even greater responsibility, our forefathers bestowed on us.  Keeping the U.S. the land of the free and the home of the brave still requires great sacrifice, although unless the average American is confronted with that burden on a daily basis, many of us seem to forget about it.  I made a promise to myself this year, to try and be more respectful of not only those who put their lives on the line on a daily basis for the freedoms we take for granted, but those who changed history by having the foresight and courage to demand that freedom so long ago.

The following article was written by a dear friend of mine, Terry Hawkins, who writes a weekly column for a small town paper in Arkansas.  I thought what he had to say seemed to echo my thoughts, so I've included it in this posting.

Independence Day not just a holiday
 
The Fourth of July.
Independence Day.
The same thing? Interchangeable holidays? Six of one, half a dozen of another?
Good question.
I don't think anyone will argue that what we call "holidays" have become holidays first, celebrations of events second, and there are few, if any, exceptions.
Christmas is mostly about decorations and presents, Thanksgiving is about turkey and dressing, Memorial Day is about cookouts and car racing, Easter is about dressing up and egg hunts, Labor Day is about not having to go to work, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday observance is about a day out of school, Valentine's Day is about who gets the most balloons, President's Day is (again) about getting out of school ... and most of those days, to most of us, mean griping about having no mail or garbage pickup.
July 4th - Independence Day - usually involves family, friends and/or public gatherings for food, fun and fellowship. 
There are those would have the world believe that the July 4th gala is a birthday party for the country. Stand up and cheer! Be patriotic! Get those flags out!
But after that last sparkler fizzles out and that last distinctive pfft-pop! of a Roman candle, what is the meaning of the day? 
Commemoration of the Declaration of Independence should be the primary reason for the remembrance. Aside from the historically conscious traditionalists who understand the nature of the Republic for which all this stands, how many truly "get" the real purpose of the founding of the United States of America?
After a friend and I discussed last week why he would no longer celebrate July the 4th, I was guided to John Adams' famous letter of July 3, 1776, to his wife Abigail.
It follows, in its original form, as far as spellings of the day, and I will note in advance that Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that's the day when the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence.
So don't let Mr. Adams' reference to July 2 throw you too far off base.
(And that's Thomas Jefferson shown with the flag, so don't get doubly-confused.)
                        ~~~~
"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.
"It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.
"I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."
Sort of puts the celebration into perspective, or does it?
I'm as guilty of anyone, I guess; this week, I made sure most of my friends got bottles of The Shack barbecue sauce for the Fourth, and I enjoyed the day off and the fantastic fireworks display.
Would I have given serious thought to the real reason for the Independence Day celebration had my preacher friend Scott Gilbreth and I not gotten serious while talking about the fireworks show, and would this column instead be about my dogs (and cats) constantly rolling around in the dirt that covers what used to be my grassy back yard or how Debbie Shea attained sainthood, for the second time in the last 15 years, by seeding a watermelon and sharing it with me?
I'm not saying we should not have looked forward to a "free" Friday or barbecued ribs or brilliant explosions of color in the night sky; after all, as John Adams wrote, Independence Day "ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."
Amen. But it would be nice if we gave a little thought to why July 4 is so important to us Americans.
As Scott said, every nation, every person in the world has a July 4th; only the United States of America has an Independence Day, at least in the form it was created and meant to be observed.
No, it's not wrong to make holidays special with the trappings we have added over the years. The presents and Easter egg hunts and fireworks and big family dinners bring us all closer when we are together, and as traditions, they are part of the fabric of our very being.
But it would be nice for them to be part of the larger picture, outside the commercialization that has taken over and left the real "reasons for the seasons" sort of standing over to one side.
In other words, we can have our cake and eat it, too, but let's be sure to remember why we're free to sit down and dig in, on July 4th and the other 364 or so days in every year.