Happy July 4th and happy 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Friends,

In his New York Times bestselling book, “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written”, Walter Isaacson, claims that the greatest sentence ever crafted by human hand is:

“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.”

When these words were first written by the creators of our Declaration of Independence (Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams) they became the creed that bound a diverse group of pilgrims and immigrants into one nation. For a people with many different beliefs and backgrounds, it defined our common ground and the American Dream that our founders fought for 250 years ago. Over time, this sentence has become more inclusive with the addition of women, slaves, Native Americans, non-property owners and other immigrants.

As we reach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration, we are embroiled in increasingly polarized debates over policies ranging from healthcare and housing to immigration and the role of religion in our society. That means that we must continue our founders’ fight for common ground and the American Dream so that we can preserve, for ourselves and our posterity, the right and aspirations that we all share, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Happy July 4th and happy 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Pastor Heather