The Day After Freedom

Editor’s Note: Although this piece was originally written in the days following Independence Day, its reflections on freedom, unity, and the enduring spirit of America remain just as relevant today. The message is timeless — and perhaps even more urgent as we navigate the challenges of our time.

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Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day. This writer still has all of his fingers, so in that sense, it was a success. I’m technically writing this while still out of town on vacation with my family.

The Fourth of July serves as a reminder that, as a country, we first had to declare our freedom and then go out and fight like hell for it. Just because our founding fathers made that declaration so many Julys ago didn’t mean a dang thing without blood and determination. When the ink was still drying, we were up to the horse’s bridle in blood. We were fighting for our lives. Had it gone differently, I might not have the freedom to write what I’m writing today. The war raged on for another six or so years after their declaration. That’s worth remembering. The day after the Fourth of July was the first day of a long fight. Had we not won, they would have signed their death warrants.

We find ourselves divided and embroiled in partisan politics these days. My first day of vacation ended with the presidential debates playing in the living room of our rented house. It was sad to see how far we’ve come as a country. This isn’t a political statement—in that I don’t care who your guy is—but if we were being honest, we’d admit they all suck. Yet, our country is still worth fighting for.

Our way of life is a beacon to so many others who, for right or wrong, find themselves pouring across our borders. Although on one hand that is troubling, on the other it should be encouraging that so many still find America a bastion of hope. We seem to have lost sight of that in the last few years. Perhaps it’s time to make a new declaration: to work together and be the country our ancestors fought to establish.

We aren’t a perfect country. There are many things we have to atone for. It seems—at the very least—we are trying to do the right things. It’s easy to focus on the negatives and much easier to let apathy turn our eyes away from those injustices. America used to stand for something. To many of us, Lady Liberty still inspires us to do better, to be better.

So, today, on the day after the Fourth of July, I’m hopeful. I still believe in the dream of America, warts and all. I know we have our work cut out for us like we did so many years ago, but I also know that Americans are fighters. I pray our leaders find the resolve to remember that it’s “for the people” and not just a platform to accumulate wealth off the backs of those same people. The tree of liberty has been watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots alike, and now it’s time to do the hard work of cultivating that sacred soil.

We will course-correct, and I believe we will heal the rifts that have formed. Time will tell.

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Stan Lake is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker from Bethania, North Carolina. His work has been published in Reptiles Magazine, Dirtbag Magazine, Lethal Minds Journal, Backcountry Journal, Wildlife in North Carolina, SOFLETE, The Tarheel Guardsman, Wildsound Writing Festival, and others. His poetry collection “A Toad in a Glass Jar” is scheduled for publication in late fall 2024 by Dead Reckoning Collective. He has written three Children’s books and one Christian Devotional book. He filmed and directed a documentary about his deployment in Iraq with the Army called “Hammer Down.” He spends most of his free time wrangling toads.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.