Happy Independence Day

In honor of the birth of my country, of the freedoms which our founding fathers proscribed for us, and of the men and women throughout history who have died to preserve those freedoms, I would like to share this, my favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time. (My gratitude to Anheuser-Busch and to the person who posted this video on YouTube.)



This commercial aired during Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. Only recently did I have the honor of participating in a similar welcoming home of American troops as they disembarked in the DFW airport. It thrilled my heart to see the number of people who stood and applauded - regardless of personal views on Operation Iraqi Freedom and the present and former presidential administrations - as these servicemen and women walked by.

It is always an honorable thing to give thanks where thanks is due.

I thank God for orchestrating events so that there was brought forth upon this continent a nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. I thank God for showing mercy to our nation, even when we have trampled on the avowedly inalienable rights of some - the American Indians, the enslaved, the unborn.... I thank God for the men and women who have, for their allotted time, stepped into terribly difficult positions of leadership in our government. I thank God for the men and women who have risen in the midst of fierce opposition to declare to our country what is right and true. I thank God for the men and women who fight every day - with arms, with words, with actions - to protect the liberty of American citizens and of people around the world. I thank God for men and women who love my country enough to want to make it better.

"Greater love has no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends."

May God continue to bless America. And may America bless God.

Happy Fourth of July.