I love Independence Day. The sun, fireworks, cookouts, parades, and cold adult beverages are all things I appreciate about this holiday that epitomizes summer.

Over the years, I have enjoyed getting in the patriotic spirit every Independence Day.

But above all else, I love the Fourth of July because I love my country.

And on America’s 250th birthday, I don’t think there is a better time to truly reflect on the privilege we have been afforded to live in the United States. As I wrote last month, this anniversary/birthday is a BIG deal. It is the semiquincentennial and since I was 10 years late for the bicentennial and odds are against me that I will live for the tricentennial (can you imagine me as an 89-year-old man?), I guess I have to get all my celebrating in today.

What an honor and milestone it is to mark the 250th birthday of the United States of America.

Hold on, I am getting ahead of myself. I think the word I used at the start of the above paragraph—reflect—is probably more important for me to do than what I used at the end (celebrate). Don’t get me wrong, there will definitely be some celebrating but I do feel taking the time to reflect is a little more appropriate.

And here is what we all should reflect on: Regardless of what party is in power, we have the right to speak, worship, and organize how we want. We can vote, we can travel, and we can petition. We can peacefully live in a country that is defended by the most powerful military that the world has ever seen.

All of this is given to us because of pure luck of the draw. Most days I pray to God thanking him for being born in America but then I follow it up by admitting that for those who were given much (like living in this country), much is expected. A lot of times I fear that I haven’t done my share for the blessing I have received.

Although I have fallen short in giving back the way I should, there are countless American citizens who have “given much” in numerous ways. Perhaps the most obvious way is through military service. I think today we should all do whatever we can to honor those who have served and defended our country over the past 250 years to ensure that we could/can continue to be “one nation, under God.”

As I have grown older, my gratitude for this country has increased with each passing year. This is mainly due to the fact that a day doesn’t pass when I don’t hear about an atrocity occurring in some other country. When it comes to this soil, we are spared from major natural disaster, brutal war, devastatingly poor conditions, crazed dictators, and mass oppression. The fact that I can go to bed each night in peace and comfort is a luxury that many people in this world don’t have.

Remember, political ideology can’t overshadow this fact.

Happy Birthday, America! And thank you, God, for allowing me to be born here. May there be plenty of reflecting and celebrating today but with a heavy dose of prayer, too. Don’t Blink.