Independence Day Display

We had a great Fourth of July. Brainerd does it up big with several great events. The Sunday Arts in the Park is a favorite for me and for several years I gave the invocation for the "Race for the Cure" But the parade and the fireworks are the main events. My parents from Thief River Falls came to spend the day with us, so we "baked" our way through the parade together and then at dusk we joined the crowd down on the sports field near the fireworks launching. There is no admission charge so the event is free. The viewing is great and thousands of people spread out on lawn chairs, blankets and on the bleachers. It may be the biggest fireworks display in the state, and certainly is the largest in "greater Minnesota." But I'm thinking that the display on the ground is pretty good testimony to our country as well. Probably no other occasion draws together such diverse community and cross section of the nation. All ages, lifestyles, locals and tourists, ethnic and racial variety, (as limited as it might be here in Brainerd), people of different political and social opinions, and so on. Where else do we assemble like that? Maybe the real American display is not just the fireworks in the sky but the one that happens on the ground as we all look up, and at least have some passing thoughts or reminders of freedom and being a nation together. That can be quite a show!