As we approach the Fourth of July, it would do us all good to pause and give thanks for the great nation in which we live.

Sure we have problems, but in the United States, we can voice our differences and seek results through proper channels such as debate and free elections.

The discourse in America has become rather shallow and even vicious, leaving little time for reason and common sense. This would be a good time for us all to resolve that respect for one another should rule the day and to realize that we are free to seek that solution in a peaceful way only because we live in the land of the free.