Vacation Fun 3: A Magical Fourth

We left Michigan Friday July 5, but I have to tell you about the night of the 4th.

Joy and I went to our hotel early that evening, being exhausted by relatives and eating.  Then about ten o-clock  we heard distant, muffled explosions outside our fifth story motel window.  We pulled back the shades and looked out over the city of Grand Rapids.  Grand Rapids is not a skyscraper town.  It is a low-lying sprawl of commercial buildings houses, and churches.  A shopping mall and a movie theater was right in front of window.   The sun had faded and night had just begun. 

In our line of sight, from one side of the window to the others, were no less than seven fireworks displays going off at the same time. They were timed at different intervals,  so they lasted more than forty-five minutes. 

It was a magical sight. Though they would have looked more spectacular if they were closer,  the  horizon to horizon show more than made up for our distance. 

Some of the displays were small and close-either private or small displays from churches or businesses.  Others were massive, well-planned and elegant.  To the north,  was a magnificent show--precise, elegant bursts in carefully coordinated colors.  To the northwest bloomed a show over downtown,  the centers of government.  To the south was a  high and beautiful display which must have cost a small fortune .   The shopping mall  close by had its own display.

 It was as if the whole city came together to celebrate the Fourth.

This must have been how our founding fathers envisioned the Fourth of July--a  nation celebrating together.  Each display was independent,  but they celebrated together with common purpose and singular freedom,  like  jazz,  each instrument playing with the same chord, different notes,  creative and united,  individual, corporate, and joyous. 

Joy and I held hands as we watched.  It was like a good marriage, two coming together, yet remaining separate. I will never again see such a display in my life.

We held hands in the dark, looking out the window.  Then we went to bed, and thanked God for our three decades of harmony and improvisation.