Well, it’s the Fourth of July, and Americans will mark this occasion in so many ways. I’ll be working at the church yard sale — again — and celebrating a friend’s birthday with some barbecue. Family members are hither, thither and yon, many of us were around for Lewisburg’s celebration last week. But my brother- and sister-in-law are at a bluegrass festival, my sister will be at a cookout, my cousins hanging with their grandkids.

As I looked at my Alaska trip taken last month, but written about here, I thought, hmm… how do I think about this nation through the lens of this trip. Duh. My sister and I were exploring the country. Oh, it was a lovely and sybaritic exploration to be sure, I took no conestoga wagon across the country, hiked no trails. But I spent a lot of time marveling at the people who did. I also spent a lot of time marveling at the grandeur of this country and the press of people who wanted to see it.

We were daily faced with the pristine majesty of this State. There are plenty of things that are happening that threaten that pristine nature, but there are acres and acres of land left untouched. When we stay in place, it’s easy to become jaundiced about what our country is like, but travel changes that. I traveled with lovely people, all of us agog at the beauty. That made me hopeful and proud, and gives me fuel to come back home and get back to work on that most American activity… making a difference!

But everyone needs to pause once in a while. Let’s do it today. Let’s look at how beautiful our part of the world is and how privileged we are… let’s celebrate that… and then let’s get back to work bringing Peace to our little corners of the world… because we can and because we should. Happy 4th.