Standing tall with my right hand on my heart I proudly repeated the pledge of allegiance every morning during grade school and middle school. In fact, I remember this so vividly! Yet somewhere after middle school I don't remember doing this, perhaps in high school I just didn't pay attention. Perhaps it was said before I got to school (I lived only 7 houses away and often waited for last bell before I started my way to school) or perhaps it just wasn't done, I don't know.
As I reflect on this weekend, I realize that more people will be celebrating a day off or at a BBQ then remembering the reason for the holiday. Sure we will all wear red, white and blue but somehow "freedom" does not quite mean the same thing to us anymore. Freedom has become a word we use to get what we want; when we feel that something is against us. We fail to see the grandeur needs of freedom and the true meaning of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The founding fathers didn't say we all have the right to happiness, anything we want any way we want it - but the pursuit of happiness. We have turned the right to freedom into the right of greed. It is now each person, each companies right to have as much as they want at the expense of others. This is not at all a good way of thinking, or a good way to live. This is not, as Christians, OK.
Then there is the real freedom that is being fought for. The freedom from war, the freedom from terrorism, the freedom from oppression. This is, for many, the after thought freedom. And yet for the people who give and risk their lives for this freedom, it is the one that matters. It is this freedom that brought America into being, that freed slaves, that gave the right for all to vote and for anyone to marry. It is this freedom that brings hope to the world and that continues to ring through in those who pursue the American Dream.
But it is this freedom that is not only most important but most at risk. It is the freedom that brings hope that we must not let die. In the wake of terror and fear, we must not let yelling about hate trump over the feelings of liberty. We must not allow the media and the global awareness hurt our ability to see the freedom we have. We must not become a prisoner of fear so that freedom means nothing more then greed. Nothing more then each of our personal choices being preferred at the expense of others. We cannot let freedom slip into the abyss of fear or worse lose the hope that it stands for.
Yes, as Americans we hope that freedom rings through our lives, our cities, our states and our nation. Yes we hope that freedom means rights set by our amendments but we must not allow personal greed to take over freedom. We must not allow fear to reduce freedom for all and most importantly this holiday we must not forget why we adorn ourselves with the colors of our flag. We must not forget that throughout human history people have risked and lost their lives for this one reason: Freedom. Freedom is not a simple pleasure, it does not give us individual rights to do stupid things or create chaos, it does however allow us as a nation to offer something to all who live here: HOPE. When we give into fear, we lose freedom. When we give into corporate greed, we lose freedom. When we fail to remember those who died, we lose freedom. When we fail to be proud of our nation, we lose the freedom we offer.
This weekend, let politics go out the window. Turn off the TV and just stop. Stop the fear, stop the hate, stop all that is in your way of feeling the hope that comes with freedom. Take the time to reflect on what freedom means for you, for your family but most of all for us as a nation. Look at what allowing freedom to ring has done for us. Don't live into the nasty judgments that suggest our country has gone down hill, but instead live into the hope that freedom has allowed. Live not into the fear of the other, but the hope that the other may be our friend.
Freedom is an amazing thing. Freedom if lived into can bring pride, hope, joy and most importantly respect to those we encounter. Today you are free to choose not to oppress, not to live into fear or anger. Today you have the right and the freedom to choose to live into what it means to be free - not for yourself or your own selfish gain but for the nation. For us as Americans. Let us reflect on the hope of our freedom.
