Independence Day, July 4

Collect:  O ETERNAL God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old; Grant, we beseech thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

FOURTH OF JULY, 1776

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,"

All men created equal and so blest

By our Creator with rights provident

To life and liberty, and thus to quest

Their future gladness. So we did declare

Our independence that Fourth of July,

Invoking God's own power us to spare

In severing with England every tie.

The moral basis of our claim is found

In this preamble to our stated case,

That one perusing it would not confound

our true position with a cause more base.

We showed the world our unanimity

In, with God's help, our vow: forever free!

George K. Johnson (1920-2007)