Hopefully you have given yourself permission to take this day off and be with your family, or if you are single with some significant friends. These national holidays have a special gifted quality for religious professionals. Religious holidays often require some extra religious activity. A secular holiday like July 4, can be a free opportunity to rejoice in the gift of relationships that you have. That may be as close as you will get to a genuine sabbath.
If you are reading this on the 5th, I encourage you to spontaneously invite your family to share in some fun activities. It might be a board game, a hike, a movie, even a picnic in your backyard. Do it in a way that requires minimum work and maximum pleasure for all around.
Maybe to directly connect with the significance of this holiday, each of you could share one thing you appreciate about the land in which you live. It’s good to appreciate the gifts God has provided us.
