Celebrating Independence Day
Photo courtesy of Stephanie McCabe
Wishing everyone a happy Independence Day! This July 4, America comes together to celebrate the nation’s birthday and independence. True Parents, who first came to America from Korea more than 60 years ago, championed the nation’s “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” — a renowned phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. This phrase exemplifies some of the unalienable rights which the Declaration says have been given to all human beings by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect.
True Parents also shared about God’s great love and hope for America as a beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. This Independence Day, let’s celebrate God’s providential achievements since America’s founding on July 4, 1776. Below is an excerpt from True Father’s 1973 speech, “God’s Hope for America,” delivered in Washington, DC.
Excerpt:
America's existence was according to God's providence. God needed to build one powerful Christian nation on earth for His future work. After all, America belonged to God first, and only after that to the Indians. This is the only interpretation that can justify the position of the Pilgrim settlers. This continent of America was hidden away for a special purpose and was not discovered until the appropriate hour. The people of God came at the appointed hour. They came to mold the new way of life. Their principal partner was God...
Now it is a significant fact that throughout history, God's people could never be blessed on their own homeland. God moves them out of their homeland and settles them on foreign soil, and there they can become a people and a nation of God. According to the pattern, the American people journeyed in faith out of their homelands, came across the ocean to the New World, and here they received God's blessing. God had a definite plan for America. He needed to have this nation prosper as one nation under God. With God, nothing is impossible. So out of the realm of impossibility the independence of America became a fact, and upon its foundation, great prosperity came...
The Christian tradition in America is the most beautiful thing for foreigners to behold when they come to this country. I learned that every day your Congress is convened in prayer. Your president is sworn into office by putting his hand on the Bible. One day I visited a small prayer room in your Capitol building. When your leaders have grave decisions to make, they come to this place, kneel humbly before God and ask His help. There is a stained glass window depicting George Washington on his knees in prayer. Here I saw the true greatness of America.
From the highest echelons of Congress way down to the rustic customs of the countryside, evidence of dependence on God can be seen everywhere in America. In this respect America is a unique nation. Even your money, the bills and coins, are impressed with such a beautiful inscription, "In God We Trust." No other nation does such a thing. Then whose money is it, your money? Is it American money? No, it is God's money. Every bill or coin says so. You are the stewards, and God has deposited His wealth in your hands. Yes, this nation is not the American nation, it is God's nation. And such a nation exists for the entire world, not just for America herself. Yes, America was formed as a new nation, a new Christian nation under a new tradition. The shackles of old traditions fell away in America. You must want to build a new nation under God.
God's purpose is the salvation of the world and all mankind. Today in America, therefore, you must not think that you have such wealth because you yourselves are great. We must humbly realize that the blessing of God came to America with the purpose of making it possible for God to use this nation as His instrument in saving the world. If America betrays God, where can God go? If America rejects God, where can God go to fulfill His aim? Do you want to let Him try to go to the communist world? To underdeveloped countries? God wants to have America as His base, America as His champion. And America has begun in the sacrificial spirit pursuing God's purpose. America must consummate her history in the same sacrificial spirit for God's purpose. Then America will endure forever!
You can learn historical and interesting facts about Independence Day here.