July 4 – “Happy Independence Day”

How do you go about celebrating Independence Day?  For as long as I can remember, ours has been about family in one way or another.  As a kid we did the whole firecracker thing out in the front yard.  That was back before they were pretty much banned everywhere except in the “official” fireworks shows put on by the city.  And I got just as excited as the next guy when it came to devising creative ways to use those tiny, tightly-packed packets of gunpowder.  Thank you very much, China, for your early creative efforts along those lines.  We would install a firecracker in everything just to see what would happen upon explosion.  We blew up matchbox cars, plastic models, baseball cards, piles of carefully compacted and molded dirt (strictly an experimental attempt to recreate a volcanic eruption, you understand), toy soldiers arranged in various battleground formations, and sadly, even a frog or two succumbed to youthful volatile indiscretions (Although I’m certain those were carried out by my brothers and other neighborhood scoundrels.  Surely I would never admit … er … engage in such despicable actions). 

I do remember like it was yesterday the last time I ever personally set off a firecracker.  I was just a lad.  One of our experiments involved breaking open twenty or thirty firecrackers in the middle and emptying out the gun powder into a huge pile.  We would toss in the empty containers as fodder, stand back and add a light a match.  Now we had to have the paper coverings in there to actually catch fire so the powder would have time to react and flare up.  The ensuing eruption of flames was spectacular to say the least.  That is until that one time.  In my efforts to come up with the tallest pile of powder, I apparently neglected to completely empty a few of the containers.  So when I leaned over the pile to make sure the wind wouldn’t blow out my torch before it had time to ignite the paper in the stash … yep.  The whole thing blew.  It was indeed spectacular.  You might say I had the opportunity to see the whole thing up close and personal.  My eyelashes and eyebrows were singed.  It was the quickest suntan I have ever received, and I grew up on this tropical island paradise.  And I have to admit, it scared me.  Actually it terrified me.  I haven’t personally lit a firecracker since.  And I suppose it led to the growth stunting of my own sons, because I never brought home firecrackers or fireworks of any kind beyond sparklers.  Of course one son in particular found a way to experience the same sense of anticipation and fear and delight.  He became a fire fighter. 

We did take in the city sponsored fireworks display pretty much every year, though.  The event was much the same as it is today, except I remember the local radio station timing a series of patriotic songs leading up to and during the show itself.  Invariably someone would turn their car radio up really loud so everyone could listen to the Star Spangled Banner while we watched our own “bombs bursting in air.”  The one display that sticks most in my memory was the year the fireworks were shot off the end of the Flagship Hotel pier.  Things started off just fine, but all of a sudden, and way too early, the grand finale began and ended in just a few glorious seconds.  The action occurred very close to the pier, too, which added to the excitement in my mind.  I dreamed of what it would be like to be that close to such an array of explosive power.  Problem was, the show ended rather suddenly after that.  Kind of a let-down, to be sure.  The crowd waited nervously for word of what had happened.  Would they continue?  Was that it?  Only later did we find out that there had been a mishap.  An errant spark had ignited the entire batch of fireworks on the pier.  Event organizers and fishermen alike were jumping off the pier and into the Gulf to escape the flames.  More evidence that my earlier decision to avoid direct contact with firecrackers had been a good one.

Since then we have settled for the yearly trek to the seawall to watch the city display.  When Kel and Christina bought their island house, we joined them on their upstairs balcony for an easier view without having to fight the crowds on the seawall.  And now Moody Gardens provides us with our very own personal fireworks display every Friday night during the summer.  We can relax in our front porch rocking chairs and enjoy the spectacle without even having to leave home.  Add to that the comment Cailyn made to me at Nathan’s birthday party last night: “DadDad, you know what?  I love you to eternity.”  I’m not sure she knows what that means, but I professed the same love right back at her and added, “That’s a really long time.”  She smiled knowingly, nodded, and added, “Yep.  It sure is.”   Now that’s what I call life in a tropical island resort town. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God.  I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.”

Father, thank you for that eternity idea you put in us.  And thank you for making love is the point of entry.  Amen.