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The ‘Declaration of Independence’ is the statement adopted on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia.
It announced that the thirteen American colonies, which were then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states, no longer under the rule of the British.
The second sentence of the Declaration contains some of the most profound and moving words ever written:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
The United States of America was founded on nothing more tangible yet ironically more powerful than words.
What are words? They are a visible or audible expression of an invisible energy – what a person thinks and or feels. Words are a manifestation and communication of belief.
It may be thought that the United States of America was founded not on words but on action. After all, the thirteen colonies did not achieve independence by words alone. Independence was secured by engaging in the most extreme form of human action – violence, war.
But the violence was based upon and in furtherance of a belief that:
“all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
These words not only inspired the taking of action to achieve emancipation and noble goals, they have subsequently nurtured what at times has been the very highest expression of human achievement and creation.
It is worth reflecting with care upon the words contained in the Declaration. Here is what I take from them:
The Declaration does not specify who or what the Creator is.
The word ‘Creator’ is a deliberate choice of word.
The founding fathers deliberately did not use the word ‘God’.
The word ‘Creator’ allows for the possibility that she/he/it is not only the ‘God’ of the Christian or Jewish Bible but can be seen to be a word that points to an energy that is the source of everything. The Creator can be simply a force, an energy, an ‘it’.
It is not therefore necessary to be religious to be American.
However, to be an American it is necessary to believe in a Creator or a creative energy or ‘spirit’.
To be an American it is necessary to be ‘spiritual’. That is to say; to think, speak and act not just for your own benefit. To be spiritual is to live your life with an awareness of and in a higher consciousness.
A higher consciousness means to think outside of yourself – to think or be aware of the existence and needs others.
Thus; according to the Declaration it is: “self-evident, that all men are created equal”.
Moreover the ‘Rights’ are “unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
I would ask you to note that not one of the things mentioned has any physical qualities.
Each of these ‘Rights’ are intangible - invisible. Life. Liberty. Happiness.
Now remember that the words of the Declaration are declared to be “self-evident truths”.
America is a nation of people that declared themselves to be based on truths – not lies, not half-truths, not exaggeration, not sales talk, not hyperbole, not bias, not ‘alternative facts’. Truths.
To be an American is to seek out the truth and to live in truth. To be an American is to remember that your wonderful country is based on and in the belief, that you, and not just you, but you and all your fellow Americans:
“Hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
It is self-evident that Life, Liberty and Happiness will not be found in the pursuit and propagation of lies.
Words spoken and written by any American citizen, should always speak to and from the truth.
To do otherwise is un-American.
The words used in the Declaration were crafted with care and with a view to uplift and inspire. The words were a manifestation of the invisible thoughts and energy of those who wrote them.
It is always this way. First thoughts, then words and finally action. Everything that has ever been brought into being was first a thought, then a word and finally an action.
To be great again, every citizen of the United States of America must simply reflect upon the self-evident truth of the words set out in the Declaration and then act upon them;
All Americans owe their existence to an invisible energy (Creator) and should appreciate that; and
All Americans have unalienable Rights that includes but is not limited to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness; and to those ends.
All Americans must treat people as they wish to be treated. They must love their neighbour.
I wish every blessing for all people of the United States of America.
Paul Kolberg
October 2017
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