It wasn't the first or only such document, the one signed and adopted in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776. But it's the one we know and hang our hats on today. And don't forget that the name of that city means "friends/lovers of brothers".
So read it at: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
Don't just focus on the unalienable rights. Read the whole thing. Does it make assumptions and judgments about people that stick in your throat or conscience today? I hope so. In the same way that once having had a car crash as a result of carelessness or recklesness can make one a better driver, I'd hope that a fresh reading of the full text of the Declaration would make us alert to avoid the same kind of oversights and misjudgments of people today.
The ninth chapter of the Gospel According to John is aobut seeing and blindness, both the physical and the intellectual/spiritual kinds. And there is a difference between being unable to see and refusing to see.
Self-check questions for the day: What have I ever refused to see? What have I refused to see lately?
God, give us vision. Amen.
Pastor Roger
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