As we celebrate this historic day in our country, maybe this July 4 can serve not just as a reminder of the past, or our accomplishments, or how many ‘likes’ we can get in our lives, but rather as a testament to WHO WE ARE TOGETHER.
     
      BY SHELDON DeVRIES
      July 4---Independence Day. It is a monumental day.
      The simple mention of this date will automatically spin us into a world of memory, with the backdrop of waving flags of red, white and blue. We remember parades, fly-bys, hot dogs, time off, family, cookouts and fireworks. It is a day bursting with meaning, memories and celebration.
      We are reminded that we are a free people, an independent nation. In the 200-plus years that these United States have been independent we have accomplished so many exceptional things. We have won wars, we have gone to the moon, we have invented the electric car. America is a testimony to a good work ethic, a tenacious vision and the human spirit. Independence seems to look good on us. There is a lot to celebrate.
      But, there is another side to independence, a darker side that we often forget. With great progress comes great cost and with exceptional freedom comes the ability to do as much harm as good. We have also watched the self-absorbed nature spike, and personal selfishness grow to an all time high. We watch people destroy their lives with negative choices and now we hear constant stories of harm, violence, bullying and dissatisfaction. Everyone seems to fight with everyone, and you can’t turn on the television without seeing atrocities. Even our social media accounts, that are seemingly filled with ‘friends,’ are testaments to hatred and discord, rather than encouragement and engagement. We are more plugged in, but less connected.
      This monumental day, July 4, is a somewhat bipolar expression of who we are and what our immense freedom has created. We have conquered the world and progressed further than any others recorded in the human experience, but at what cost? What mountain did we destroy to build our stone monument to ourselves? What was the cost of progress?
      As I watch the world pass me by, I sometimes think that the very thing we are searching for is the thing we have had the whole time. Have you ever watched those movies where the hopeless romantic sets out on a quest to find true love, only to realize that it was in the forgotten friend that was next to them the whole time? I think sometimes we are like that. We have given up community in search of significance, we have traded accomplishments for love, and have sold independence for entrapment to a world that does not seem to care.
      But you see, we missed something. We thought that independence is about being alone, and actually it’s not. It is about realizing that when we work together, we become free. True freedom is not about being alone, it is about belonging. Through my years of counseling couples, we spend much time working against the forces of dependence and co-dependence. As infants, we are utterly dependent on our parents and in nature, co-dependence between the crocodile and the bird who eats the bugs out of its teeth, are appropriate but in people-partnership they seldom mix well. You see, what we have failed to see, is that interdependence is what gives rise to independence. And when independence begins to become a lonely place, we can walk back into the safety of interdependence. We need each other. More than we may know. And maybe now, more than ever.
      As we celebrate this historic day in our country, maybe this July 4 can serve, not just as a reminder of the past, or our accomplishments, or how many likes we can get in our lives, but rather as a testament to WHO WE ARE TOGETHER--- That together we are strong. only together we are free. Together, we have created beautiful things. And so, maybe today is a time to reflect on who your people are. Who is your tribe? Who is your family? Who have you leaned on to become the independent person you are?
      Take a moment to tell them – build a monument of encouragement for those who have walked with you and helped you achieve. Whether they are living or gone, near or far, give them your thanks and appreciation. Celebrate your community today. Celebrate the ones who have gone before you, the ones who ones who walk next to you, the ones who will come after you.
      When you use your independence to celebrate their role in your life, you acknowledge your own place in theirs.
      Happy Interdependence Day!
      Sheldon DeVries is currently executive pastor
      of staff operations at Greenford Christian Church and future Boardman Campus Minister at Greenford’s new campus location at 7782 Glenwood Ave. that will open early in 2024.
     
      Even our social media accounts, that are
      seemingly filled with ‘friends,’ are testaments to hatred and discord, rather than encouragement and engagement. We are more plugged in, but less connected.