Our Independence Day

I hope many of you had a very happy and safe Fourth of July. My family and I stayed home and I cooked a little. We did not shoot off fireworks because of how they affect our short four legged member of the family, our dog Droopy, the Bassett Hound.

Besides, our neighbors shot off plenty. Droopy, bless his heart, had to protect us, mainly me, from the loud noises. He did not leave my side for any length of time. If you have dogs, you know what I mean.

We watched one of my favorite July 4th movies, Independence Day. The jest of the movie is aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive. It was on a repeating cycle and showed most of the day.

My favorite of the movie, is when actor Bill Pullman who played President Thomas Whitmore, gave a word of encouragement to the pilots who were going at war against the aliens.

He said, "Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

Although this was a fictional movie, a lot of what he said, is what we are going through today.

We are at war, a more dangerous war, a more mental and spiritual war. A war that effects where our final destination will be. With all that is happening around the world, especially here on the home front, we are bringing this war to ourselves. The sad part is, we are not realizing it, or simply, we just do not care. As I had mentioned in an earlier column, it is a matter of the heart.

No matter what side of the fence you are on, what color of your skin, how much money you have. It's what is in your heart!

In the Old Testament Jeremiah 29:11 reads, "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

It sounds relatively simple! The God above who created us, knows exactly what to do, and He has plans to take care of it. Problem is, we want it our way. Yes, it is a faith issue with faith in the heart!