Thoughts on the Fourth of July

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved. – Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species

Darwin and his contemporaries saw wonder and beauty in the world around them, in the smallest details and the largest. His fascination for the patterns of creation came out of a long tradition of liberal natural philosophy, first animated by a belief that by understanding the pattern of nature we might understand the mind of God. Ironic. The Drinking and Reading Society is a direct descendent of those amateur naturalists. We too seek the grandeur of the natural world in the books we read and the pursuits of our lives in the streams, prairies and woods.

Once upon a time even our presidents and government officials shared this passion – even were leaders in learning. Theodore Roosevelt for example. On this Fourth of July I wonder if it is even any longer possible to have a president who was curious about the natural world and who saw in its details endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful.