To make the future free

“My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be!” is the sentiment in the hearts of many Americans this year. Millions are looking for ways to honor America’s 250th birthday, whether by traveling to our nation’s capital or celebrating closer to home.

American clergyman, Princeton professor, and literary giant Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands at the outbreak of World War I. In his “America for Me” he wrote those words, that America is where “I long to be,”

So, it’s home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag of stars!

Americans are great travelers and agree with Van Dyke that “It is fine to see the Old World and travel up and down among the famous palaces and cities of renown ...” but that this year—America’s semiquincentennial—is not the year for “crumbly castles and the statues of the kings.” Van Dyke decides, “I think I’ve had enough of antiquated things.”

Why not Europe? He admits, “I know that Europe’s wonderful, but something seems to lack.” What is lacking?

This has actually been a huge point of contention between Washington and some of our European allies. The United States and many of our close Cental European allies, such as Sweden, Poland, and the Baltic States, have long invested heavily in deterrence and defense. Other wealthy NATO members, such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Belgium, refuse to bear their fair share of the defense of Europe. Some, such as Spain, continue to actively block U.S. navy and air force activity.

President Trump’s National Security Strategy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s impassioned Munich Security Forum speech have pointed to the real problem in Western Europe these days, and it is the denial of the Judeo-Christian heritage of Europe. Instead, with major population changes due to immigration, climate activism as a quasi-religion, a secular-atheistic worldview hostile to Christianity, and wide dependency on the bureaucratic state, much of Western Europe is in a moral, economic, political, and spiritual crisis.

In contrast, the United States remains Van Dyke’s “land of youth and freedom.” After 250 years, this is still a country characterized by a youth-like society, where innovation, start-ups, and risk-taking remain the norm. It is no surprise that the great achievements of the last half-century, from Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple to SpaceX, Blue Origin, medical advances, and block chains, all originated in the United States. America continues to be energetic, growing, and vital.

Van Dyke sings, “When it comes to living, there is no place like home.” This is true. When it comes to freedom from government intervention, social and religious vitality, civil liberties, market opportunities, and raw natural beauty, America is a great and massive country. Moreover, Americans who travel abroad find our basic necessities—high-quality plumbing, drinkable tap water, air-conditioning, spacious accommodations—to be considered luxuries.

What is America’s “glory” on July 4, 2026? Van Dyke asserts,

But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be

We love America for what she is today, and we will celebrate that in Washington, D.C., with a national state fair celebration, the largest fireworks display in U.S. history, and the illumination of federal buildings and the Washington Monument. Families and communities across the nation will participate in parades, community events, and fireworks spectacles, reflecting with gratitude on all the blessings of our present.

But America has a larger purpose, a forward-looking vision for “what she is to be.” That destiny is to continue our daily work establishing a free future for our children, grandchildren, and neighbors.

What does that look like? To preserve a free America means to assert and reinforce—at every opportunity—the foundational principles of the Declaration of Independence. We must defend the self-evident truths of humanity’s origin and purpose: We are created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. Where we have erred, we change course to fully live up to preserving the “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” of all citizens regardless of race, religion, age, sex, or status. We promote these same values as a common good around the world, such as the worth of women and the dignity of the unborn and religious freedom for all.

That’s America for me!

Here is the full text of Van Dyke’s “America for Me”:

’TIS fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,—
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,—
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,
To the bléssed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars