July 4th, 2025

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

There are those who read this lines and are quick to point out this Founding Father had slaves, that one was capable of brutal behavior on the battlefield, some considered mercantilism and some (most) of them drank hard liquor. 

On the other side, it is too easy to say simply that we love our country and then go back to playing catch, jumping off the pier, and waiting for the coals to be ready so we can begin grilling. 

The British essayist GK Chesterton has a message that I think it is worth considering as we step outside to grill some steaks and reflect on our nation’s 249th birthday:

Love, as Chesterton reminds us, is a complicated thing. He points out that the common trope that “love is blind” is false. Chesterton points out, that that, in fact, is the last thing that love is; true love sees very clearly what is in front of it, and both chooses to love completely while also honestly addressing the places where someone - or some thing - falls short.

A father doesn't correct his son because he hates him, he corrects him because he loves him. If he hated him, or even simply didn’t care, he wouldn’t bother to provide correction. Instead, the more that he loves the son, the more he will work to correct him, help him to be virtuous, help him with his math, help him with his throwing arm. And when the son succeeds and outshines the father, the father will love him all the more.

Chesterton pointed out that if one merely disapproves of his town, country, or state - or country, one might simply move away. And if you simply approve of your town, etc., it will remain as it is.

His comments strike home; of Pimlico he said (Pimlico was a middle to upper class section of London during the mid 1800s that had declined substantially by the time Chesterton wrote, just after the turn of the century, and was noted for several “desperate” slums):

If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; Pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. For decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable. A mother does not give her child a blue bow because he is so ugly without it. A lover does not give a girl a necklace to hide her neck. If men loved Pimlico as mothers love children, arbitrarily, because it is THEIRS, Pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than Florence. 

He goes on to give this remarkable summation: Rome was not loved because she was great, Rome was great because she was loved. 

What does that have to do with our country’s birthday? What is the lesson? Simply this: To both face the simple truth - the truth that was very clear to our Founding Fathers, and Lincoln (162 years ago the Battle of Gettysburg had already begun), that we are not perfect’s after all, we a merely human. But to also seek a more perfect union. That means we keep improving it. But we do so because we love this country. Hate won’t improve the country, hate won’t fix anything. Nothing good will come from hate. But love can build that shining city on a hill. 

Think about the closing statement of the Declaration of Independence: these men loved the United States long before it became great, and were willing to sacrifice. The United States became great because they - and thousands, millions of others, loved her: 

And 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.

Indeed. May we all so pledge… Happy Birthday! God Bless the United States of America…