as we celebrate our love of country and our independence, may we in our love commit to healing wounds of our past, and strive tirelessly to keep tyranny at bay, living up to and embodying our highest ideals both in ourselves and as a nation.

~j

…..

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

~

Emma Lazarus

#July4th #JulyFourth #IndependenceDay #USA #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #FamiliesBelongTogether #NoBansNoWalls #NoMuslimBan #MindfulResistance #SitDownRiseUp #JMWart