Independence Day

"This is the only country where you can come with just $100 in your pocket and get a PhD in nuclear engineering," she said with a great smile as she prepared for her citizenship ceremony.

"When a boy is born," an Asian mother tells us, "there is celebration. But when a girl is born, nothing."

"When I was a child," a young lady tells us, "all my dreams were taken from me just because I was a girl born in Iran."

"I saw a fellow walking his dog, and the dog had socks on his feet," one fellow remembers.  "Why, I asked."
   "Because the pavement is hot."
"I was amazed, people here care about such things, even a dog's feelings.  Humans are not treated like that in Iraq.  People in Iraq would wish be an animal in America."

Each of these folks were interviewed on the day they became U.S. citizens.  They, and a million more every year, come to America, hoping for a chance to be free.  And not to America alone, for there are many countries who share the vision.

Tahrir Square during the Cairo Revolution

So much is discoverable in the realm of human rights, the inalienable rights which many of us perhaps take for granted.  The stories of escape to freedom are almost endless, and all are deeply moving.  It helps our perspective to remember.

"The great struggle is not for power and dominance, but for the precious life and freedom of each and every individual."  

Happy 4th of July!