Officially started in 2004, Sept. 17 is a day to honor the U.S. Constitution, to contemplate it, its origins and its legacy.

There’s a wealth of writing about the Constitution, from children’s books to dense histories.

Books diving into its creation, the lives of the people who worked on it, the uncertainly in the air at the time.

Studies that examine the impact of the Constitution since its writing.

Theories about how additions and changes that were considered at the time may have impacted the country.

Lists of fascinating facts: the U.S. Constitution was prepared in secret, behind locked, guarded doors; the U.S. Constitution is the oldest and shortest of all written national constitutions; while it was written in 1787, it wasn’t ratified until 1788.

There’s no shortage of people who will tell you what the Constitution means.

And with all due respect to the experts, we encourage our readers to read the Constitution for themselves.

Start with the preamble that was emblazoned in our minds in the classroom:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.’

Read through to the closing that comes before the list of names:

“Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names.”

(For editors, English teachers and historical grammar fact buffs, check out a couple of paragraphs before that list a few minor last minute grammatical edits).

Spend some time with it.

Read it and think about it.

Figure out what it means to you.

It’s a good day for it.