by Jennifer Johnston
Animated fireworks by Sistromc
Released to public domain through Wikipedia Commons
In the File It Under Strange Department (a rather large and eclectic full-service department at my house): This morning I was running errands and beginning to ponder the blog post I would write to commemorate the 4th of July this year. Last year I wrote the Summer Magic post on the Reflections blog ... one of my favorite posts, and if you haven't read it, I hope you'll go to Reflections and find it in the Index under that short title ... and that you enjoy reading it. But I digress....
Anyhoo ... for some unknown reason (possibly my further derangement by the recently HOT HOT HOT temperatures here), as I was contemplating, these lines from a well-loved song started running through my mind: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose...." Whoa! Wrong holiday!!! Wishful thinking??? Sheesh! As I parked at a little Arts District boutique, I exited the car shaking my head at the idea of The Christmas Song in July. I hurried through the suffocating heat toward the air conditioned store, opened the door, rushed in and saw ... a fully decorated Christmas tree with brightly wrapped presents sitting underneath it.... Dead stop ... goggle ... major time/space continuum disconnect.... Yikes!!!
Regaining my mental equilibrium, or as much mental equilibrium as I am generally able to muster, I became aware of a huge stand-up sign beside the tree, proclaiming a "Christmas in July" sale. Okay ... nice idea, lovely bargains.... And truth be told, as I wrote in a paper for Darryl Morris' class back in 1961, there is no real reason (except that the early Christian fathers were trying to compete with the Roman Saturnalia celebrations) why Christmas can't be celebrated in July ... or in the Spring, when many scholars believe Jesus of Nazareth was actually born.
And then I began thinking of the holidays, special days, that we celebrate here in these (sometimes) United States, and the fact that most of them could easily be celebrated at other times of the year, other seasons, rather than on the days designated. Thanksgiving could certainly fall on any given day of any given month. I sometimes think we would all do well to silently celebrate Thanksgiving in our hearts every day in acknowledgment of the many blessings we receive, although its late Fall setting certainly lends itself to the theme of the end of harvest, and the thought that if the harvest has been bountiful, we will be well-provisioned for the onset of winter. The same for Labor Day, or Memorial Day, or Veterans Day ... despite the significance of the dates originally chosen, their observance could occur at any time.
Celebrating New Year's Eve/Day on December 31/January 1 is a result of following the Gregorian (rather than the Julian or Lunar) Calendar. The Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew Calendar (falling in September or October, depending); in Islam the Muharram celebration migrates to different days in different years. Nepalese Hindus begin their New Year, Nava Varsha, in the third week of March, while Hindus in southern India celebrate their New Year, Ugadi, in late March or early April. The eve of the Balinese New Year, Nyepi, falls on the night of the new moon, whenever that occurs in March or April. Nyepi is a day for silence and reflection, but there are rituals in the days following, including asking forgiveness from family and friends, and Bhuta Yajna, when representations of demonic or dark spirits (ogoh-ogoh) are burned to symbolically vanquish them. Many Asian and other countries also use a Lunar Calendar to determine dates for the exotic and noisy Chinese New Year, Tet and other celebrations occurring on diverse dates during mid-to late Winter. But again I digress ... although at least for me, a fun digression....
Ogoh-ogoh, paraded on Bhuta Yajna in Ubud, Bali (7 March 2008)
Photo by Jack Merridew, released to public domain through Wikipedia Commons
But the 4th of July is the 4th of July ... despite many of its festivities actually being held on a day more convenient to a weekend. Still, it is the date that gives the holiday its name, and marks the significance of that specific date in the history of our country. For of course it was on the 4th of July that our Declaration of Independence from England was adopted by our Founding Fathers, generally learned men, but a disparate group as far as their own religious or philosophical beliefs; some but not all were Christian, some like Thomas Jefferson (who supported strict separation of church and state, despite the efforts of some to dispute that notion) considered themselves secular humanists (a much maligned group over the past few decades), and some were atheists ... a fact not particularly embraced by a certain segment of our population in recent years, but a fact nonetheless.
What united the Founding Fathers as a group was not so much a uniform belief in an omnipotent and all-powerful Creator-God, but their rock-solid determination to chart a new life, a new course, to establish a sanctuary and a model of freedom and equality in the erstwhile British Colonies ... as well as a dedication to the principle that in truth, all men are created equal ... even though it took many more years to abolish slavery in this country, and for women and people of color and the poor and the otherwise "different" to achieve rights taken for granted by white, upper-class, landed male gentry. It has been a great struggle over the centuries since July 4, 1776 to adhere to the vision (if not the immediate practice) of the Founders ... but I believe with all my heart that most Americans (of whatever religion, philosophy, creed, color, gender or sexual orientation) are good people of good will and good intentions.
As I mark the 4th of July each year, I cannot help but reflect on the wars which have been waged as this nation was born, as it and we have continued on the journey to realize its ideals ... and of course my thoughts include all those who have fought, and especially those who paid the ultimate price in service of their country. Back in the 1960s and until mid-1975, when we were young, we were enmeshed in an undeclared war in Southeast Asia. Some Americans supported that war wholeheartedly, and have never changed their minds or questioned whether we should have been there. Some of our fellow citizens opposed that war, either from the git-go, or coming to their opposition shortly thereafter. Some of us initially and for several years supported the war, but grew disillusioned when the war dragged on, seemingly to no good purpose and with no end in sight, and with American casualties mounting to dreadful levels. Even now, decades later, there is much ambivalence ... and many prickly opinions ... about the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which are colored by Vietnam.
Still, I believe that most Americans support our servicemen and -women ... that the majority have always supported these mostly brave and selfless men and women ... despite stories of some truly egregious incidents which occurred involving servicemen returning from Vietnam which have been inflated and exaggerated by some for political reasons. The incidents of name-calling and spitting on homecoming soldiers were absolutely appalling ... but they were not the norm, and only a small number of ugly people did such things. Still, it was also truly appalling that so many Vietnam Veterans came home to silence and indifference. And yet, I believe we also learned something from the hurtful apathy and cold distance of those days ... and I do not know of many now who don't express support for our troops, even if they disagree with the war in Iraq, or with war in general.
We all owe an ultimately irredeemable debt to our troops ... to those who fought in our original War of Independence, and in successive wars, giving the best and sometimes literally the most they were able to give. And so it is that many of my thoughts on Independence Day will be dedicated to those who have served and who continue to serve.
In the 1960s, one of the songs that most affected me, that made me cry and makes me cry when I hear it to this day, was Peter, Paul and Mary's The Cruel War, a melody from the Civil War period with lyrics written/adapted by Peter Yarrow and Noel "Paul" Stookey. It wasn't one of their songs that topped the charts, but it affected me profoundly with its plaintive melody and poignant lyrics, then and now. It is on my iPod, my iPhone and my self-burned CDs, and I hear it frequently.
"Home is where you dig it," sign over the fighting bunker of PFC Edward, PFC Falls
and PFC Morgan, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, Operation Worth, Vietnam 1968
Department of Defense, Photo in Public Domain
The cruel war is raging, Johnny has to fight.
I want to be with him from morning 'til night.
I want to be with him, it grieves my heart so,
Won't you let me go with you?
No, my love, no.
Tomorrow is Sunday, Monday is the day
That your Captain will call you and you must obey.
Your Captain will call you, it grieves my heart so,
Wont you let me go with you?
No, my love, no.
I'll tie back my hair, men's clothing I'll put on,
I'll pass as your comrade as we march along.
I'll pass as your comrade, no one will ever know,
Won't you let me go with you?
No, my love, no.
Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, I fear you are unkind.
I love you far better than all of mankind.
I love you far better than words can e'er express,
Won't you let me go with you?
Yes, my love, yes....
All wars, even "good" wars like our War for Independence (though I am sure the British would have disputed its "goodness") and the Allied fight against the Axis powers in World War II, are cruel ... it is their intrinsic nature. Invariably they are predicated by a clash of ideologies and beliefs and agendas and sometimes the greed of the combatant parties. The losers will as a rule suffer most cruelly, but the suffering will be shared on all sides. General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), whose Farewell Address at West Point is one of the most moving things I've ever read, posited that soldiers hate war the most because they must bear the brunt of its horrors. And I believe that is true.
But while we remember and honor our soldiers, living and dead and grievously wounded in body and mind, let us also think compassionately of those who wait and hope for them ... whose hearts catch in their throats at every report of casualties ... who wonder if they will ever see their spouses or lovers again ... who wonder each time they part or speak if it will be the last time (as indeed it may be for all of us who live) ... who yearn as the soldiers do for a return to love, and home, and happiness and peace ... until the Captain (and duty) calls again, and they must obey....
Let's think of them all especially on the 4th (indeed every day) and send our heartfelt gratitude aloft on the air as the starbursts of fireworks emphatically punctuate our thoughts of "Thank you" ... "well done" ... and "safe journey"....
)O(
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