We awaken today to find the detritus of many a Fourth of July celebration scattered around us. We pick up leftover fireworks remnants, perhaps deal with trash piled high from barbecue remains, and we might even need to straighten bunting and streamers flying askew. We don’t give it much thought from year to year, but when you stop to think about it, July 5 is when the real work begins.

In 1776, that was far more obvious than it is today. The Continental Congress had voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence the day before, and all involved were well aware of the possible ramifications. On July 5, 1776, the Pennsylvania Evening Post was the first newspaper to publish the Declaration, and the first copies of the Declaration, called the Dunlap Broadsides, which were printed by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap, were distributed. Approximately 200 copies were printed and distributed to the colonies, military leaders and political leaders of the era to begin spreading the news.

However, making a bold declaration and asserting rights is a long way from winning a battle and actually being able to live fully into that declaration. Those hearty and determined colonists still had a long way to go before experiencing the kind of freedom that their souls yearned for, and that road would include sacrifice, much hardship and the loss of as many as 25,000 American lives.

Today, that document, carefully crafted by our Founding Fathers, is being sorely tested. We have seen first-hand how challenging it can be to live into the best version of ourselves, and how easily a people can be divided by their differing understandings of what “freedom” really means.

Christianity can be viewed through a similar lens, and throughout its 2,000-year history it, too, has been sorely tested time and time again. It, too, has proven challenging to live into the precepts that Jesus taught. Aren’t we seeing on a daily basis how difficult it can be to love our neighbor as ourselves? Aren’t we experiencing the conflict that comes hand-in-hand when individuals have a common goal but remarkably different thoughts about how to achieve that goal?

Sometimes concepts that seem so simple are painfully hard to integrate into our lives. After all, how hard is it to live into the call from Micah 6:8? Isn’t it easy to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” How hard is it to be fair, be kind and be humble? And yet, here we are in the year 2025 and these three ideals have proven to be almost impossible to consistently implement in our own lives.

How much harder is it to implement the concepts outlined in the Declaration of Independence? It would seem just as easy to recognize that all humans are created as equals, that they deserve certain rights and that we can handle governing ourselves. Yet here we are, 249 years later, still struggling to live into the best of what America can be, just as 2,000 years later we still struggle with the basic tenants of the faith of the majority of Americans.

What does this teach us about being human? That it can be almost impossible to be the best version of ourselves in every moment. As we watch our beloved country struggling, we have learned that it requires our full attention at all times to succeed at becoming who we can actually be. Whether it is being the kind of person we are called to be by Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad, or whether it is being the kind of citizen we are called to be by Washington, Jefferson or Hamilton, it is going to demand something more of us than what we often settle for in ourselves.

It is worth it, though, isn’t it? For in demanding the very best of ourselves, we will elevate not only our own lives, but humanity itself.

Athol Congregational Church, UCC, is a local community of faith that is “small enough to know you, large enough to serve.” The congregation celebrates in-person worship and offers Facebook livestream services under “Athol Congregational Videos.” Pastors and members are available for conversation on the Athol Congregational Church Facebook page and through private messages. The church also offers long-distance reiki through certified practitioners. The church is located at 1225 Chestnut St. in Athol and can be reached at 978-249-6202.