It’s the 4th of July, and we need to pause and give thanks for a country that really is trying to “provide liberty and justice for all.”

Of late, some of us seem to have trouble celebrating America because we can’t get past the flaws. Columnist Peggy Noonan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, quoted Bill Maher on perspective. Here’s a bit of what Bill said:

If you think that America is more racist now than ever, more sexist than before women could vote, you have progressophobia. Look at the changes America has made…Even something like bullying. It still happens, but being outwardly cruel to people who are different is no longer acceptable. That’s progress. Acknowledging progress isn’t saying, “We’re done,” or, “We don’t need more.” And being gloomier doesn’t mean you’re a better person…Saying white power and privilege is at an all-time high is just ridiculous. Higher than a century ago, the year of the Tulsa race massacre? Higher than when the KKK rode unchecked and Jim Crow unchallenged? …Racism is unfortunately still with us and its legacy of injustice lingers. I understand best I can how racism singes a person’s soul so much they might see it everywhere. But seeing clearly is necessary for actually fixing problems, and clearly racism is no longer everywhere. It’s not in my home, and it’s probably not in yours if I read my audience right, and I think I do. For most of the country the most unhip thing you could ever be today is a racist. – Bill Maher, quoted by Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2021

Last January, I quoted Rodney Stevens, a black writer and life coach born and raised in South Carolina, where he still lives:

Racism still ex­ists but it is no longer sys­temic. Those who claim that racism is every­where to­day are delu­sional. – Rodney Stevens, Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2020

We won’t be done this side of the Second Coming, but can we work for change AND celebrate?

Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass…After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the LORD, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” (Joshua 21.43 – 45…Judges 1.1, ESV, in the land…but not finished.)

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2.1, 2, ESV, emphasis mine)