The 4th

 And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. U.S. Declaration of Independence.

 It’s the Fourth of July. My flag is out, my version of carnitas are on the smoker, and soon I’ll be reading a good book in the cool shade. Later, family members will join us for a late lunch. That is how I choose to celebrate. I often think about patriotism. After twenty-plus years of service in the Army, this idea remains at the forefront of my daily thinking, but I do not appreciate the jingoism that pervades most expressions of patriotism these days. I especially do not like the snarky memes that traffic in false patriotism…well I do like the “Happy Fourth, You Ungrateful Colonists.” Those are funny. But what does patriotism mean today and who are the true patriots?

 I like the quote from the Declaration of Independence. Those men understood sacrifice and peril, the sacrifice required to make our nation possible, and the peril of taking that step. They also understood the concept of personal honor and what that kind of life required. True patriotism always involves some sort of self-sacrifice. We tend to limit that to falling in battle; however, many among us demonstrate true patriotism through the tenor of their lives. Their actions that make our nation better cost them something. For some, such as teachers, they choose a life that entails hard work and low remuneration, nurses and public servants do the same. Some display their patriotism through volunteering in often quite unnoticed acts of selflessness. These men and women truly display their patriotism with no real thought of reward.

 True patriotism includes honor and to maintain one’s personal honor one must embrace fidelity to the truth. Sadly, many of our leaders ignore the truth, perhaps hoping it will go away. They embrace a lie to maintain some sort of hold on power, place, and privilege. They fly the flag, wrapping themselves in red, white, and blue bunting while hoping that we will not notice they build on a foundation of lies. They have no honor and are not true patriots. We need patriots that unflinchingly look for and embrace truth to grow as a nation and live up to the ideals laid out in our foundational documents. This fourth of July, let us recommit ourselves to the ideals of truth, justice, kindness, mercy, and compassion, those things that all true patriots espouse and what will make our nation truly great.