E ditorial
With celebrations of this nation’s 247th year of independence and having more family get-togethers than major government meetings to attend, the DMC took advantage of the wiggleroom to unwind, as vacation time isn’t exactly part of the newspaper publishing formula. We could have filled the pages of this edition with other, more official-breaking-news stories, but we decided there was nothing that couldn’t wait to print, and an unexpected break from routine could be good for us all.
Next week we will be right back at it, taking on one of the most traditionally busy news weeks of the month, and based on what is suspected to appear on agendas, one of the busiest of the year. However, those are meetings to come, and this week gives the nation and our communities an opportunity for celebrations of what we have and a moment of reflection on who we are...
… Just like it did in year one; and has in every year since. I wonder if we can see traces of the hope in the eyes of the civilization staring back at us today than those celebrating and reflecting on July 4th, 1777.
Gathering up some quick historical reference facts, I ran across a letter John Adams wrote to his daughter. He was in Philidelphia at the time, and the letter was dated July 5th, 1777.
Adams wrote about how the day before marked the anniversary of American Independence and the impromptu festival and ceremony that occurred. He commented that he was too old to write descriptively about the occasion, adding that if he had the talent, a picture might be drawn that would please the highest of tastes.
Quick side note: The word photography is derived from the Greek –photos — which means light — and –graphos — which means something written or drawn. Essentially, photography means “drawing with light,” but it would be 62 years before the word would officially be coined.
I read in an etymology dictionary that one of the earliest uses of the word was: 'a picture obtained by any process of photography,' which was part of a scientific paper English polymath and photography pioneer Sir John Herschel read before the Royal Society on March 14, 1839.
Back on independence, another interesting part of Adams’ letter was how no one had thought to prepare for a celebration until the day was upon them, and that nevertheless, people intuitively gathered in celebration.
“The thought of taking any notice of this day, was not conceived, until the second of this month, and it was not mentioned until the third. It was too late to have a sermon, as every one wished, so this must be deferred another year.” --John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 5, 1777.
Year one, giving glory to God before celebrating your victories — by the first elected American President’s own admission — just kinda slipped their mind... maybe next year.
I’m not one to get real “preachy,” as God has given me a platform, not a pulpit. Yet as an observer of behavior with a responsibility to chronicle the lives of my community and share information that people can use, it should be pointed out that failing to properly honor God after being led from tyranny never seemed to work so well for the Israelites.
For the record, I thought that deserved to be pointed out there.
Even so, less than 100 years later, on June 28, 1870, Congress passed a law that made Independence Day a federal holiday. According to the Library of Congress, “By the 1870s, the Fourth of July was the most important secular holiday on the calendar.”
I have no idea how much skipping that first sermon factored into the thinking of Adams or the other founding fathers, but I do know they were men that knew the hearts of men, and mistakes would be made. It is for this reason that after waging war from 1775 to 1783, our forefathers crafted a document that could be amended.
The US Senate website states: “Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government.” Not too shabby, America. That 234-year-old document is still keeping us together. Mostly anyway.
The US Senate website also states about the Constitution: “Its first three words – ‘We The People’ – affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens.”
… Senators would think that way.
Adopting this philosophy allows them to retain an internal feeling of superiority within the outward acknowledgment of their servitude.
“We The People” affirms not that the government serves its people, but that the people of this country can govern themselves. It establishes a government of those living among us that we agree to elevate into leadership positions for a time.
That “time” was not intended to end only after 45 years of “servitude” and a million-dollar book deal, and while it is easy to despair when considering national affairs, the beauty of our constitution is that its framework is duplicated from the District of Columbia to the Double Mountains.
From the President of the United States to the president of your local school board, all are part of a system that works as long as the “The People” know what they want. When they don’t, however, it causes situations where leaders just want you to like them or worse, leaders who will try to lead by charisma and conviction, then later by force for those who refuse, which brings us back to the oppressive philosophies America fought to escape.
How do We The People determine where we want our nation to go?
The forefathers thought of that too, written into the Constitution’s First Amendment: Free Speech, baby.
I don’t know how you spent your Fourth of July celebration time, but like many, I’m sure, I spent mine with family watching fireworks. And as an editor of a newspaper, I am grateful to have the duty in our community to uphold that First Amendment right.
As you look through the drawings of light contained in this week’s newspaper — “newspaper” is a word that predates photography — I hope you also take the time to talk to one another. I’m not sure what direction this nation, state, county, or town will take next, but it’s probably time we start speaking up about it.