It's fitting that July 4 should take place after the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3). The American union was forged through a war and has been maintained through many trials.
Currently, many American institutions are in a state of crisis. Failure has compounded failure, the mighty nurse their petty grievances while ignoring the real suffering of those around them, and blame-casting usurps the seats of good faith and judicious deliberation. It's easy to be dispirited in this environment, just as it was easy to be dispirited in Valley Forge or the killing fields of Gettysburg.
But our republic still has great strengths--in its founding principles, in its inherited traditions, and in the hearts of its people. In adversity, we should forget neither those strengths nor our deeper ethical duties. Fireworks can still glow on victories and on a renewed republic.
