Dependent on Independence ~E Reiss

​The Declaration of Independence


​I endeavor to re-read the Declaration of Independence every fourth of July. It is one of those seminal documents that is as good as you remember it being. So many things that we take for granted, representation with taxation, trial jury by our peers, the idea that each of us is created equal and endowed with foundational rights… all of these things were not a given in the civilizations of the world to that point.

America pulled from the greatest political thinking of the ages and added a bit of their own, to make something new, and something extraordinary in the new nation.

In Virginia, there is an area called “Colonial Williamsburg” where historical recreation is done in a makeshift township. You can talk to the blacksmith as he works the forge. You can sit in on a hearing for local jurisprudence in the church. You get a sense of how things were in the beginning of our Republic and the issues of the Declaration are much closer at hand. 

One of the presenters collected the letters of James Madison, and with a team of writers, this professional actor put together a speech of Madison’s own words, producing a coherent vision of America, highlighting the core values that bind us together. I have to say, at the end of that, I was ready to put out some lawn signs for the framer of our Constitution and the primary author of the Bill of Rights. His words were glorious, they were clear, they were surprisingly relevant to our current political climate and above all, they were good.

God send us a James Madison, with brilliance and balance, with compassion and a singular vision of political clarity to cut through all the noise!

Jumping back to the Declaration, I encourage you to read it. It will go faster than you think.

And as you do, consider the idea of an America where the heart of our government is service  to its people. That the institutions of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial were framed and formed to create an environment for human flourishing to remove impediments of injustice and the lack of opportunities that arise when we are something less than free. When we don’t have the ability to choose a path forward and give it a crazy amount of focus and attention. When our systems stop accelerating these ideals, or worse, actively stand in their way, those systems need to be altered or abolished.

So we did. 

America isn’t perfect, and you could even make the argument that we might have jumped the gun on a number of foundational things: the Revolutionary War, our handling of slavery (or refusing to handle the issue of slavery) resulting in a devastating Civil War, the horrible relocation of indigineous tribes. You could go down the list… for all of our greatness and success, and generosity that we have extended to the world, in many ways past and present, America is a mixed bag. We are both the pinnacle of human civilization and capable of incredibly selfish and terrible things.

But the ideological starting point is a good one. Everyone, created equal. There are foundational rights of human dignity and worth, tied to Imago Dei, leading to the inescapable conclusion that life is precious, we are born to a magnificent purpose, and we can’t step into God’s best unless we are free. Free to do what we “ought” to do, free to be who we are created to be.

Take a moment and consider where we are in the tapestry of history. What part do we play in the world today to freely bless this generation? What do we turn away from to become a light in this time? How do we become a society that shines, as individuals, and as a nation, into the earth in a way that illuminates goodness to the end of the age?

Can we re-affirm the self-evidence truths and speak them anew? Can we step into the things that our forefathers saw as God working a new thing in our world? 

Can we declare independence from anything that would hold us and our families back from God’s plan for us?