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        Saturday of this week is the 4th of July, a date of historical significance because it marks the 250th birth of our nation. It was on  that day in 1776 that representatives of the thirteen colonies signed a document declaring themselves to be a free and independent nation. Most of us are familiar with the contents of that document. We, of course, know it as “The Declaration of Independence.” In clear and concise language, it avows that the colonies are no longer connected with or controlled by the British Empire.

       That part of the story is common knowledge, but I wonder how many of us are aware that this historical document is also a declaration of dependence. The last sentence, just above the signatures, states 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, our sacred honor.”

     They started by declaring their dependence from England; they ended by declaring their  dependence upon God and one another. In sounding that two-fold emphasis, the founding fathers   of our nation struck a balance which we, their descendants, have sometimes failed to comprehend. We like to think of ourselves as free and independent people. The spirit of this modern age of ours is one of liberation and self-determination. Individuals, parents and social groups, and entire nations are shaking off the shackles and claiming for themselves the right to control their own lives.

      We, in the Church, should not only applaud this effort, but should be in the forefront of the fight for freedom everywhere. The desire for independence has always been and will always be one of the deepest longings of the human heart. God placed it there; and no one has the right to take it away. But in the midst of all this, we must never forget the counterbalancing truth of dependence. If at any time we begin to think of ourselves as totally free and completely independent, life has a way of reminding us otherwise.

     We are dependent on each other whether we like it or not. I need you; you need me; and both of us together need people whom we have never seen and they need us. And all of us together need God.

     This Sunday after Independence Day would be a good time for each of us to sign somewhere in our hearts a declaration of dependence upon God and upon one another.