Why This July 4th Feels Different

Last night, with family in town, we went to the Colorado Rockies game with 12 of us–ages from 5 to 87. Whew, it was a Denver party downtown for sure. As we were walking from the train to the stadium we passed the watch party for the Colombia-Ghana game and the crowds were electric–there was so much energy, diversity, connection, and joy emanating from people young to old.

I felt a little weepy at the sight.

This is America.

It sure can be so sweet and beautiful.

While July 4th has been a conflicting holiday for a lot of people over the years, it wasn’t until 2017 that somehow my eyes were finally opened in a new way and I started wrestling with it in a new way and wanted to skip it entirely (this post I wrote for Patheos was my first–When You Want to Skip July 4th This Year). I just re-read it and yeah, it still stands. Since then, there have been others, too–An Unhappy July 4th and a Both/And July 4th–and years of social media posts lamenting it.

This year feels different.

Yes, it’s a conflicting holiday with tough roots and a singular narrative that is not reflective of the full truth of our nation’s story.

Yes, I am sick to my stomach at this current administration’s power grab and corruption unlike nothing we’ve ever seen before in the history of the USA.

And, no, I will not let anyone take away my dream for America and belief in what could be.

We are an amazing country that’s also incredibly young.

250 years is a blip in world history and we have truly influenced so much in our short life–often at the expense of others and in many false “we’re the best ever” ways–and yet it still remains true–America is a beautiful reflection of possibility and filled with examples of what others hope for.

Democracy.

Innovation.

Possibility.

Hope.

Safety.

Freedom.

As I wrote these words, I noticed the feeling of wanting to change “hope” to “have hoped” above because so many of these things are being stripped away by leaders in power who are having a hey-day right now promoting believe Christian Nationalism and the lies of White, Male, Straight, Economic Supremacy.

But I’m not going to.

Many still hope in the present, and this July 4th feels different because we are learning what it feels like to see some core pillars of our democracy begin to potentially crumble. To see what consolidated executive power like we’ve never experienced before can do in a short amount of time. To see how our free-er and fair-er elections that were hard won to get to can be quickly hijacked by lies and conspiracy theories. To see what it’s like to live in a society where a free press is threatened and squeezed out. To see what it’s like to have our friends and neighbors being taken from their homes and sent to unknown countries with no due process. To see the kind of corruption we’ve heard about in third world countries rampant in our own. To see what happens when freedom of religion is threatened.

I know this isn’t new. Many of the things happening have been happening far before this great illumination but it’s apparent–this is as bad as it’s been for America when it comes to a threat to our democracy and the breakdown of our Constitution and three co-equal branches of government, compounded with this level of blatant corruption.

That’s why this July 4th feels different to me.

And why it’s worth celebrating America this year in a new way, holding all the &’s together.

This year, even while I’m grieving and mad and disgusted and scared of what it will take to get to a new place together, I’m still…

Dedicated to the dream of America and what a healthy democracy can do.

Proud to be an American and the broad and beautiful ways that people find their way here, and committed to the foundational idea that, in the words of Michelle Obama, “no one, and I mean no one, has the right to sit in judgment of who’s American enough.”

A firm believer in the separation of church and state and freedom of religion; t’s crucial for the health of a society.

Awed by what so many have sacrificed and fought to promote civil rights over the course of our story.

Enough of a dreamer to still believe that the power of people is bigger than people in power.

Yes, let’s grieve and feel the strange range of feels this July 4th.

And…let’s not rally around our flag but around each other.

Let’s reflect what we believe in most deeply.

Let’s share generously.

Let’s advocate rigorously.

Let’s love tangibly.

Let’s remember our interdependence (and why it’d be so much better to honor Interdependence Day instead of Independence Day).

Let’s magnify what the FIFA World Cup has been stirring up in us.

Let’s do all we can to embody what we want for our future, together.

Our country deserves better.

Our children deserve better.

The world deserves better.

That’s why July 4th 2026 feels different to me this year and why freedom is worth fighting for—not in the ways we’ve been taught where bombs and false lies of supremacy reign—but through ordinary people making America’s dreams a reality, here and now.

It’s why tonight we’ll all be at The Refuge BBQ–a wild and beautiful mix of people across almost every demographic I can think of–eating, laughing, connecting, sharing about the America we want to create together, and hopefully reflecting what we believe.

Yeah, July 4th feels different this year.

With you from Colorado,