Photo Courtesy of Bruce R. Cross

Do the names Francis Lightfoot Lee, Josiah Bartlett, or Abraham Clark ring a bell with you?

How about Button Gwinnett, William Paca, or James Smith?

Let’s steer to the more recognizable names – John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson.

Finally, some familiar territory in the name game!

These men, in addition to 46 others, were all signers of The Declaration of Independence.

As Independence Day 2014 will soon be observed it’s worth mentioning we enjoy the freedoms granted in this document because of the actions of others.

On July 4, 1776, fifty-six men signed their names to a document destined to afford all Americans freedom.

One of the most prominent sentences of the Declaration is this:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What gets overlooked is every one of these men put their own lives and livelihoods at risk, as well as their families, for the sake of a vision.

As we celebrate our independence, take a moment to ponder or research our heritage and in the process thank God for the opportunity to live in this country.

Although most of us are not called to found a nation or play a part on a grand stage, we too can make a difference in our own spheres of influence.

Like the fifty-six signers, perhaps you too can make a difference in someone’s world.

In what ways can you play an integral, meaningful part of another’s life?