by Christine Sunderland @Chrisunderland
Today is Independence Day, July 4. This year, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, signed by Congressional representatives of the thirteen colonies on July 4, 1776. In this document, we celebrate our freedom from Great Britain, birthing our nation under God:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The Declaration of Independence, 1776.
Freedom is a great responsibility. Mothers and fathers know this, as they train their children to use their freedom of choice, in advancing degrees, wisely, morally. We try to instill faith and virtue in the young, faith in a divine authority and virtue to act according to God’s law.
Freedom is a precious thing and once abused is difficult to refashion. There is a lovely Anglican prayer for our country in which we ask that God “Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes who have come to our shores from many kindreds and tongues…” This is a curious and challenging balance – freedom seems at odds with union. And so, we ask God to help us. (1928 Book of Common Prayer, 36, Rev. George Lyman Locke, 1935-1919.)
As Christian novelists, writers who believe Christ is the Son of God and the first authority in our lives, we celebrate freedom. We offer choice to our characters, and those choices define them, who they were, are, and will be (and want to be), just as our choices define us. Freedom laces plot, is reflected in settings, and is foundational to story-telling. In The Fire Trail (Histria), my sixth novel, books and music hold Western Civilization together by a thread (or perhaps comma or note) as the wilderness (and barbarism) seeks to cross the fire trail into the civilized world.
Christian authors exercise freedom of speech as they fashion together selected words, creating poetic phrasing, paragraphs, pages, and chapters. They show how freedom gives life to death, breathing into our souls and characters the love of the Creator.
And so, we favored few – those who choose freely to love God and seek His will in our lives – have been endowed with unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our lives are words, each a star on the flag of faith, loving one another as He taught us, loving with words.
We pray for our country on this special day. We honor those who have served her, especially those who have given their lives for our freedom.
And so we pray, “Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will…” (Ibid, BCP) And we sing and celebrate our country’s birth two hundred and fifty years ago.
God has blessed America, and we ask Him to continue to bless this remarkable land, our heritage, for we are mindful of His favor and glad to do His will.
Christine Sunderland has authored seven award-winning novels: Pilgrimage, set in Italy, Offerings, set in France, Inheritance, set in England, Hana-lani, set in Hawaii, The Magdalene Mystery, set in Rome and Provence (all Oaktara), The Fire Trail (Histria/Simon & Schuster), set at UC Berkeley, and Angel Mountain (Wipf and Stock), set on Mount Diablo, east of Berkeley. She is currently submitting The Music of the Mountain, about life and death and life again, book burning and secret libraries. She is a member of the Anglican Province of Christ the King (www.anglicanpck.org). Visit Christine at www.ChristineSunderland.com (website and blog).