Yesterday -- and I hope you didn't miss it -- was the Fourth of July, Independence Day, in which we commemorate Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum nuking the alien spaceships that came to take over the Earth.

Just kidding!

Let us not forget the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence, which I, as a Freemason, can tell you -- contrary to the evidence of Nicolas Cage -- does not have a treasure map on its back, but rather a recipe for menudo, with a note saying that it really does cure what ails you in the morning. This wisdom is attested to by the signatures of Ben Franklin and Tom Jefferson, both dyed-in the-maroon fraternity boys.

My Eagle editor said I could be patriotic in this article, so I would like to point out that -- on patriotic holidays -- breaking fire-safety codes by bringing dangerous fireworks into our fair city is not only illegal but unnecessary.

I've learned from my fellow Aggies ("whoop!") about an equally exciting alternative: soda pop and mints. Yes! Take a bottle, the bigger the better, of cola and dump into it a bunch of candy (wouldn't want to plug a brand here, but something that rhymes with Nentos) ... and then get back! The result will be a shower of carbonation lovelier than any firecracker.

I bring this up not only because I haven't been arrested in a while, but also because of my affinity for a great institution of higher learning that must right now have many chemical engineering professors feeling like an Alka-Seltzer in a Shiner Bock after reading this.

All of the above is to point out that, although we sometimes make light of national feast days that really should be important, independence and freedom -- the hallmarks for this weekend -- still thrive in the Brazos Valley. Think of the Texas Department of Transportation corridor that we, the public, recently defeated or the hoopla over College Station's Munson Street or the ongoing debate in Bryan over roommate-zoning restrictions on single-famwily dwellings.

Seriously, anyone interested in Christianity should take note also of the church's appreciation of and contributions in this field.

The Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council proclaimed that the best form of government is that in which the most citizens participate.

My own denomination, Anglican/Episcopalian, lives as a democracy/republic, in that we -- starting at the grassroots parish level -- elect representatives, who then gather to make policy.

Baptists embody independence in their very manner of living, as churches and individual believers.

These religious folks do these things with the faith that, as a whole, and in the long run, they are guided by the Holy Spirit. You can read about that in the Acts of the Apostles.

I am sure that much the same can be said of other denominations as well; I do not intend to slight them.

The late Madeleine L'Engle, a great writer, took such principles of human thought, interaction and life seriously from a religious perspective.

She wrote in Icons of the True about freedom and its theological aspect, free will, that "It is the ability to choose which makes us human." Her point about the spiritual basis and implications of freedom should remind Christians that the life of faith cannot be separated from life in the community; spiritual identity and freedom are the bases of civil and political action.

Because of those bases and their moral ramifications for Christians, I finish by calling to your attention the Gospel reading from tomorrow's lectionary, Matthew 11, in which Jesus says that some people are "like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. ...'"

In other words, when the human family calls to us -- through the stirring music of freedom and democracy -- to participate in improving society, out of respect for those made in the image and likeness of God, and endowed by him with certain inalienable rights, we must not be wallflowers. We must dance -- for then, he dances with us.

P.S. I'd like to share with you my reflection about Jim Butler, one of our neighbors in the Brazos Valley, who served the cause of freedom and its enjoyment as journalists have done since the time of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote with both seriousness and wit.

Jim has written about many people in this area, always with kindness and respect.

I bring Jim up especially now because, after struggling with his health for a long time, he recently married a wonderful woman, and I feel that we owe him a pat on the back and a prayer for health and happiness, at least.

Jim, who retired from The Eagle this week, made every amateur show seem edifying and every person fascinating.

He may not have been a powerful politico, but he was a civic servant with a pad and pen -- a prophet for the arts and humanities. Madeleine L'Engle, whom I mentioned above, said that "all true art is incarnational, and therefor religious," and so therefore I say, "God bless Jim."

• Father Bruce Chabot is rector/pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Navasota.

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