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Grateful Greetings, July 4, 2001
It is so very easy to accept the blessing of liberty...and at the same time ignore, forget, or not even recognize the responsibility that liberty requires. One year ago, the Newsletter of the Webster Presbyterian Church (Texas) carried a message about the Fourth of July that concluded, "The Fourth of July is as much about today and tomorrow as it is about yesterday. Independence Day derives from our generation as much as it does from our forebears."
If this country is to continue to prosper, if civil rights are to be protected and become a reality for all, if justice is to reign, if opportunity is to grow, if innovation is to thrive, if freedom is to live in this land, we must celebrate the Fourth of July not just with fireworks and picnics but with a deep and renewed commitment to protect freedom.
In the late 19th century, the founder of Dow Chemical Company, Herbert Dow, said, "If you can't do it better...why do it?" Life demands our best effort. God has blessed us as individuals and as a country.
Each one of us is in the process of becoming what we are going to be, and all of us are forebears for those who will follow. May it be said of us by those who come after us, "The freedom we enjoy is a gift from our forebears, and it is our responsibility to protect it for future generations."
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