Happy 4th of July! At the promptings of a very wise priest, I read the Declaration of Independence. I may have read it in full at some point in my life, but I really don’t remember. Of course, those beautiful words are near the beginning, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 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.” Then it goes on to describe the oppression that the people were under at that time from the British government. I pondered the word, “independence” for a while. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as, “the freedom to organize your own life, make your own decisions, etc. without needing help from other people” We are born totally dependent upon our parents to take care of us. From there I think we are in a constant battle. We want freedom, and at the same time, we want to be taken care of. The reality is that we are always dependent on others. Even if we become a hermit and live totally off the land, we would still need the companionship of other people. We need the work done by others to get our food and the things we need. We need the love and encouragement of friends especially in difficult time. And yes – we even need those who we disagree with to teach us how to love and respond in a proper way. I know in my own life after a difficult time, I tried for years to shake myself off and move on taking care of things all by myself. I was exhausted mentally, spiritually, and physically. I realized I had to let people in and allow them to help. While I prayed a lot, I also had to let go of trying to control everything around me and allow God’s plan to unfold in my life. I became happier and healthier. Then, I was able to help others physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In the state of our country, I hope that we are all not trying so hard to be “independent” that we forget how connected we really are and how desperately we all need each other.

I Found God today in remembering that we are interconnected and that is is good to be dependent on Him.