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Across the Pastor’s Desk by Todd Walsh

We are into the Independence Day holiday and our annual celebration of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. It is also a time to remember and celebrate those who — 247 years ago — gave us the Declaration of Independence. And let’s face it, it is a good time to celebrate summer sun.

Even one of the signers of the declaration willed and predicted that Americans would make the day a holiday for enjoying life. John Adams foretold that there would be a holiday filled with parades, gatherings and fireworks. He only missed one detail though; he thought we would be celebrating on July 2, the day the Continental Congress approved the Lee Resolution on independence. He didn’t figure that we would land on the day the congress approved the Declaration of Independence — July Fourth.

I’m remembering the final words of the Declaration of Independence. They were not in the original draft composed by Thomas Jefferson. But the Second Continental Congress worked through the document and over three days made dozens of changes, deletions and additions. One of those additions was this: “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.” The capitalization in the text is as printed in what is called the Dunlap Broadside, printed the night of July 4 or 5.

There are several themes in that final sentence that are worthy of consideration. I will land on just two.

The signers ran straight to God with these final words. And they did not show hesitation in their trust in God’s presence and help. That is remarkable considering the situation.

Recall that the signers lived in a nation at war and with much of the nation under military occupation. Their lives were in peril if any of them ended up in British custody. But that sentence does not point to fear; it is a mark of their faith in God. They knew they had days of trouble ahead and they knew that they had God to guide them through those days. The same God is here to guide each of us today.

We can hear the echo of the final words of Jesus in Matthew, “And remember I am with you always to the end of the age.”

Those words two thousand years ago brought comfort and inspiration to the first believers in Jesus. The same was true 247 years ago. And it is so among us today; we as God’s children can live knowing that though our Lord is risen and lives in heaven, his spirit is among us and with us. We are not alone.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence knew they were not alone in another respect. Yes, they asked for God’s help. Then they asked for the help of one another — my second theme for consideration. They knew they had come together to form a unique community. And they knew they needed one another to be able to live together and to live as free people. Benjamin Franklin knew how to put into words the importance and the implications of what the signers were doing at the moment he signed the Declaration of Independence. “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately,” he said. Franklin also had a good sense of gallows humor-literally!

It is remarkable that the Declaration of Independence is titled, “The Unanimous Declaration…” All 13 colonies gave their assent. Six months of negotiations brought them to July Fourth. They knew they needed one another if they were to live free. They also knew that they could face failure if any colony backed away. The document approved on July Fourth is a remarkable statement of the desire and determination of people to seek and make new life together. Recall that the American colonies were diverse with many languages spoken through the seaboard settlements. We can still see the vestiges of it in a Boston, Pennsylvania or Georgia accent.

The mix of community and individualism is a tricky balance. A verse in Corinthians 12 shows a remarkable and revealing balance: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Community requires individuals. But note how we are transformed with the community that is named in this passage.

“You are the body of Christ.” We are transformed into a new body with a new life that is heaven sent. We become the body of Christ in the world. We are part of something greater than ourselves. And we all hold the same value in community and community is weakened and imperiled when that is not so.

Community is healthy when individuals are working together. And community can grow individuals when the body is healthy. The lesson can be seen in the decision of the writers of the Declaration of Independence to go forward together.

Where did they get that idea? Could it be from their Lord and ours who sought out and welcomed anyone of high or low estate, especially those rejected by others? The promise “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” is not just a promise or even an invitation. It is the mark of the life our Lord makes possible for us today.

May our “firm reliance” on our God see us live as free people changed each day into the image of and reflect the life of our Lord.

Todd Walsh is director of spiritual care services at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community in Albert Lea.