America's Most Beautiful Corner

Tonight I found the most beautiful corner in America. It is the intersection of a not-so-very-busy street and a very busy street that has restaurants and shops along either side. My family sat on a section of the green grass that flanked the edges of the road and waited.

Nobody else was around for a while. And we waited.

A few people whom I have never met before came and sat with us. And we waited together.

As the sun slipped below the horizon to illuminate the billions of people who would likely never see this beautiful corner, the sky erupted in percussive blasts. With each shower of light my body trembled with the thunderous booms of the celebration.

Then another sound began to break through the fireworks. Voices. Voices that carried wonder and amazement. Voices that pointed out the colorful display to children seated in their parents laps. Voices that were saying the same thing, but in many different ways.

I heard Chinese, Spanish, and English in all sorts of accents all around me. I looked around and noticed that of the five other families sharing this street corner, none looked the same as the other. Yet there we gathered for probably the first and only night of the year with one purpose: to celebrate the freedom that we have.

At the point of this realization, I knew that I was sitting on the Most Beautiful Corner in America, and I suppose that many of you will find yourself on the same corner in the next few days. Perhaps it won't be in Addison, Texas, but we will share the corner together, remembering and celebrating the freedom that we have.

God bless each of you this holiday weekend and God bless America. And to my non-American readers may God richly bless you and whatever country you find yourself in today.