Happy 4th of July!

A bonus edition of “Becoming Today” as we celebrate along with you. 

Normally I do not publish on Sundays, so to help some of you avoid unnecessary anguish, while this appears here today, you may be reading on Sunday and I am with you in spirit, I am not working on Sunday.

I intentionally dedicate myself not to work on Sundays as it is my preference and part of my own personal covenant with God to keep the Sabbath holy. The rewards of doing so have been and I know will continue to be immensely rewarding. 

I’ve made the point of my doing so  and sharing about it often.  Thus I knew as I planned to share this post -through the gift and blessings of technology- which allowed me to create it, format it and schedule it for delivery well ahead of the weekend; that I could be confident there would be those who would feel the need to wag their fingers at me.  

We used to teach sales people to always be prepared to eliminate objections, however as the calendar pages have continued to flip and I’ve gotten o…l,…wiser…. I have come to understand that there are those who will always believe they need to object about anything and for some everything. For them I can not eliminate disagreeable nature, so within the bounds of my aforementioned covenant I am praying for them on the edition of Becoming Today.

For us in the U.S., this is a significant day for the United States of America. Our nation was declared to be on this day 245 years ago. 

Despite attempts to prevent its creation in the ensuing years (until 1783) and a renewed attempt to abolish it in the War of 1812, we continued on until we saw it temporarily derailed from within, by the most uncivil of behaviors and actions in 1861; we resolved to reunite and carry on despite adversities for some 156 years since 1865.

Last week I pointed to Abraham Lincoln’s historic House Divided speech, given when he was serving as a state legislator, prior to his election or even campaigning for Becoming the 16th President of these United States of America. In which he declared, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Simply and eloquently restating something we were warned about centuries before when was reported in the Bible (Matthew, 12:25 KJV), “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”

We can only prosper by living in harmony. Differences must be set aside. Acceptance of each other as separate but equal individuals is required to empower an atmosphere of healing, growth and Becoming. Novel ideas to embrace on this Independence Day.

Here in my adopted home state of Kansas we also choose to celebrate “Ad Astra Per Aspera”  on a daily basis. If you think I spelled something wrong, that’s because the state’s official motto is in Latin. 

The expression is translated as “to the stars through difficulties.” 

As statehood was Becoming a reality for this territory, John James Ingalls conceived the idea saying, “The aspiration of Kansas is to reach the unattainable; its dream is the realization of the impossible.” 

Appearing on both our state seal and flag, “This motto refers not only to the pioneering spirit of the early settlers, but also the difficult times Kansas went through before becoming a state. The anti-slavery forces and slavery proponents waged battles in the electoral process as well as on the battlefield. Kansas earned the nickname “Bloody Kansas” because of the war regarding slavery, much of which was fought on Kansas’ soil.”

Kansans chose to do their part in 1861 by becoming dedicated to and working towards becoming a more perfect union, when other, more established parts of the nation were opting to break away. 

As we are currently focusing along our shared journey of Becoming Today on rights, responsibilities, independence and our freedom this 4th of July offers the perfect opportunity for it’s rebirth in our spirit.

In addition to my thoughts, I’m also sharing a soundtrack of sorts, though some not traditional or even culturally recognized as associated with this holiday, to help express our renewed spirit of this concept.

Whether this day is one you celebrate or not, I hope you’ll take a moment to reflect upon how its spirit and essence can reflect our own struggles, challenges and victories along our own personal paths. 

I pray for you, your families and loved ones that this day is remembered as a day for fostering our independence. We’ll explore more of what that means tomorrow, here on Becoming Today.