The Weekly Wrap: June 28-July 4
America at 250
One of conversations those of my age have is comparing our celebration of America at 250 with the celebrations of the Bicentennial in 1976. For many, this doesn’t hold a candle. In 1976, we had emerged from a war. But in 2026, we are in the middle of a conflict. In 1976, we had the tall ships. This year, we have controversy about the reflecting pool. In fact, 1976 seemed a time of comparative unity, without the partisan controversies of today.
My sense is that many people don’t feel much like celebrating, except for the advances of U.S. Soccer in the World Cup and local fireworks displays. (And maybe we can add Travis’ and Taylor’s wedding!).
But there is much to love and celebrate about this country, apart from our troubled politics. Consider the varied beauty of our geography. While no government is perfect, our constitution with its balancing of powers, and its Bill of Rights stands as a singular document. We have hardly lived up to our aspiration to “liberty and justice for all.” Our commitment to the rule of law has protected us from tyranny. Moreover it has led to the eventual righting of many wrongs.
We are the inheritors of a tremendous heritage ranging from practices of governance to our history at its best and worst, and the cultural riches of American literature, art, music, and dance. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe, or Georgia O’Keefe; George Gershwin, New Orleans jazz, Paul Simon, and Martha Graham and Leonard Bernstein. Wherever we turn, we stumble on a rich cultural heritage.
Cultural criticism is easy. However, culture-keeping and culture-creation, as Makoto Fujimura and Andy Crouch have discussed, begins with building on what is good and preserving and enhancing it. So, this edition of The Weekly Wrap focuses on articles that consider our national story, identity, and vision for the future. Happy Independence Day!
Five Articles Worth Reading
I have been reading Jill Lepore’s We the People on the history of our Constitution, and particular its amendments. Therefore, I was interested to come across this interview, “Jill Lepore on What to Read This Fourth of July” in which she not only offers reading suggestions share some of her own opinions about the future of the Constitution. While I don’t agree with some of what she has to say, she points up some critical challenges we face.
But what is proper patriotism, that doesn’t stray in nationalism. Martha Nusbaum, in “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism” addresses this question. Her address was part of a forum that includes over twenty responses from a variety of luminaries.
Then JSTOR offers a wide array of readings in “Celebrating the Fourth of July” including several historical documents!
Mere Orthodoxy offers an “America250 Forum in two installments that includes several authors whose work I’ve reviewed. The installments are “America250 Forum, Day 1: The Idea of America” and “America250 Forum Day 2: The Weight of History.”
Finally, the first pope born in the United States offers his perspective on our 250th in “Toward a more perfect union.”
Quote of the Week
Franz Kafka, who was born on July 3, 1883, offers this wisdom. I wonder if it applies to nations as well as individuals:
“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
Miscellaneous Musings
For a time, I lived just up the street from the gifted guitarist Phil Keaggy. When he was working on his first solo album, I remember listening to tracks from it that he had recorded on his reel-to-reel tape deck. And when “What a Day” came out, I played it over and over again. John B. Hatch has just written a book, Oh What A Day studying the artistry of that album, and offered me a copy, not knowing my own connection. What a surprise and delight for both of us!
So, I mentioned reading Jill Lepore. We the People is not for the faint of heart. It’s a 600 page history of the Constitution and its amendments. For her, the Constitution is too difficult to amend (two percent of the people can actually kill an amendment).
Lastly, I find reading the Bible with others always opens my eyes. That was especially true as I read Reading the Bible on Turtle Island. Two North American indigenous writer discuss the insights they gain from scripture read through their own cultural lenses. I’ll be reviewing it next week.
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: Daniel Silliman, Reading Evangelicals
Tuesday: Mark Deymaz, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace
Wednesday: Iris Murdoch, The Red and The Green
Thursday: T. Christopher Hoklotubbe and H. Daniel Zecharias, Reading the Bible on Turtle Island
Friday: Collin Hansen, Skyler R. Flowers, and Ivan Mesa, editors, The Gospel After Christendom
So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for June 28-July 4.
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