WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT
By Kristin Scheimer
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (people)
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.” - Declaration of
Independence.
I direct you to the always amazing speech given by Frederick
Douglass, read here by James Earl Jones.
I’d also like to take this Independence Day to invite you to
think a little bit about what this day really means.
Our Founding Fathers wrote some profound words in their
Declaration of Independence… OUR Declaration of Independence, but… they weren’t
true at the time. Not for everyone. Not for women, slaves, all people of color,
immigrants, people of lower income, for example. I like to believe. I choose to believe that our Founding Fathers
wrote these words with the best of intentions. (and feel free to fill in your
age joke of choice here about how I actually KNEW the Founding Fathers!) 😁
I choose to believe that my buddies, the Founding Fathers, believed in these words and some even knew that… in time… these words would include everyone. I truly believe that was the intention of the Declaration of Independence and the very foundation of our country.
I choose to believe that my buddies, the Founding Fathers, believed in these words and some even knew that… in time… these words would include everyone. I truly believe that was the intention of the Declaration of Independence and the very foundation of our country.
But beyond whether or not this is the foundation of our
country, these words are inarguably TRUE.
We are ALL… every single one of us… born… a human baby. EQUAL.
Anyone who believes otherwise is simply living under a mask of hatred,
fear and anger. There is no one in their
right mind who can think any one baby is of less value than another. That simply defies every measure of logic.
But the reality is, a VAST majority of the people in this
country are NOT truly born with the full rights to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.
It’s the pursuit of happiness that I want to focus on today. What makes you happy? What do you pursue for your happiness? (When I say this, of course, I mean GENUINE
happiness, not some pursuit fueled by fear, anger or hatred. That simply isn’t real)
Are you in a position to truly pursue what makes you
happy? Are you hindered by race,
religion, gender, gender identity, socio-economic status, education,
opportunity, etc.? Many… MANY are.
And there are some who think… and are extremely mistaken…
that if others are allowed to pursue their happiness… it will take away
theirs. To this I say… if you live in
that state of mind… that state of fear… you ARE… NOT… HAPPY. So… shame on you for trying to stifle someone
else’s pursuit of happiness.
I believe, totally and absolutely (and I have quite a lot of
confidence that there are studies to support this) that the MORE people in our
society that are happy, the better our WHOLE society is. The better for ALL OF US.
I’ll write more on this later. I must confess that writing in my blog has
felt pointless and overwhelming since a certain Presidential Election, but I
will try to be more diligent and believe more that the effort is what matters. Today, however, I am keeping it simple. As you celebrate our Independence Day… think
of these things:
1) Am I truly pursuing my happiness?
2) Are there ways I can overcome the obstacles I
face in pursuing my happiness?
3) Am I keeping others from pursuing their
happiness?
4) Are there ways I can help others whose pursuit
of happiness is thwarted in some way?
To me… This is the way to celebrate OUR Declaration of
Independence and our Independence Day.
