Though a global pandemic still has our lives in its grips, its effect appears to be ebbing — and just in time for us to celebrate Independence Day.

For generations, this has been a time for Americans to come together and celebrate the freedom and independence so many won for us and for Americans to come. We’ve watched the night sky light up with fireworks displays as part of the Independence Day celebrations.

Our nation, rarely unified in thought and spirit, has been rendered as it is mired in one of its most bitterly divided episodes. While the actions of our elected officials haven’t sunk to the levels of Rep. Preston Brooks going from the House chambers to the Senate and taking a cane to Sen. Charles Sumner and thrashing him to within an inch of his life, the discourse from our political leaders seems to be sowing only more discord. 

We’ve had a pandemic force us apart, physically, leading to the new term of social distancing and the prevalence of face masks on the population.

But on this weekend, when many of our communities, such as Thomasville, are again celebrating our independence with the time-honored tradition of fireworks, we hope that as a community and on a larger scale as a nation we can come together to enjoy the experiment in democracy that is America. Our nation is not perfect but it is still the beacon of freedom and prosperity for the rest of the world. 

And that’s worth celebrating.