Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Sunday is the Fourth of July and we have a lot to celebrate.

This year we will get to have an actual Fourth celebration, complete with reverence and fireworks, family and friends. It’s a positive step forward from last year when COVID-19 forced us to sideline many of those things we have come to look forward to at this time.

We should be grateful for this opportunity and at the same time recognize how far we have come in just a year’s time.

But during this year’s Fourth we should also recognize the moment and be inspired by the history of it as a chance to get back to what being an American means. It can be a moment, whether introspectively or with others, to remember that we are one country.

Broadly speaking, these last 10 years or so have been a reflection of an ugly side of America, driven by divisive politics and radical ideologies. We have in many ways become two different Americas, more willing than ever to cast blame on the other side for those ideologies that don’t conform to our own ideas of America.

Not only do we need to remember we are one country, but we also need to remember we are part of a global community. It’s just as important to keep in mind that without the aid of other countries, we may not be here as a country today, or at the very least we might be a very different country.

And yet, in many ways, we are indeed a very different country. Partisan battles play out in government and on the street.

In years past, America has always been about being one country on the Fourth of July. A chance to celebrate a country that routinely led the world on a global stage. It was a reason to proudly recognize the spirit of a nation.

We hope we can be there again and we hope this year can be the start of that. A chance to roll back to an America that stands as one, rather than an America that stands apart.