What is this thing... patriotism?

So everyone knows that today is the 4th of July. Apparently a long time ago we sent a Declaration of Independence to a tyrant in England.

But I wonder what the real deal is with the 4th. It seems to be a commercial celebration in some parts of the country, particularly in Virginia. Whether you need a red, white, and blue place setting or a quilt to use for one day of the year; maybe you need a 4th of July teddy bear in order to be truly American.
We celebrate the fact that we are now free from a tyrant. So we spend money on fire works and use it as an excuse to eat too much potato salad (guilty here!) but I wonder what the true value is.

Everyone today is posting on facebook about how good it is to be in America. We are the "land of the free". But I don't really think we're celebrating our freedom. We are celebrating our nationality. If we were really focusing on freedom I have a feeling it would look more like this:
A national new citizenship day for new members.
A home being built for an illegal immigrant.
An opening of the border between the US and Mexico.
Or what about this? What if we celebrated our freedom by inviting together people of ever race, nationality, gender, and religion?
Maybe absolving more people from death row?
Freeing people from jail for minor crimes?

But that's not American. Being American is a sense of pride on this day in order to say we're free and spend money.

Alright, I'm not the most patriotic; but after seeing what life looks like under a dictator,  I like what I see in the US a lot better. I'm so grateful for the freedom we have, for the fact that in this country we will not get shot for carrying a bible, or, as in the case of Uganda, our newspapers won't be shut down because we had incriminating evidence against the government .

I think about what's happening in Egypt today. The army over throwing a government because the people weren't satisfied. To them, that is patriotism.

In Uganda, Independence Day is a show of arms by the government. That's patriotism.

But people today are complaining that we are not free because of the NSA scandal. But if we were actually patriotic like the rest of the world, would we be angry that we have a government that monitors us to keep us from getting blown up by terrorists? In many countries, the dedication of the government to our protection would be such a blessing.

Hmm... doesn't a very authoritative book say something like "in His service is perfect freedom"? So then maybe we should spend our day today loving and serving. Love those around you. Love the government for taking care of you. And let's love the One above us, because there we really find freedom. I'm personally patriotic to that Home.