Independence! Let Freedom Ring....

Today is Independence Day, July 4th!  There were many freedoms awarded when we gained our independence as a country.  I believe many of these freedoms are being marginalized, or taken away completely, as our government has grown larger and larger, and politicians have taken greater, greater power into their own hands.  Many of them seem to think that 'We the People' are not educated or smart enough to govern ourselves without Government mandating what our thoughts and actions should be.

Personally, I doubt very, very much that they are really putting their constituents desires in front of their own desires for power and control.

At work the other day, we were having a discussion about freedom.  One person there asked if I truly believed we were free.  Yes, I believe I am free.  I realize there are laws which restrict, but most of those are truly for the good of not just me, but those around me.  I like to drive really, really fast...  However, having said that, I believe there are those who are trying to take freedom away from all of us in this country.  They are doing their best to marginalize the Constitution of the United States of America, which our forefathers said was forged under the hand of Almighty God. 

As I thought about Freedom and how many people in the U. S. think they are NOT free, I thought of a few things, which I think are of note.

If anyone has ever lived in a third world country, or a developing nation, they would truly understand how much freedom we enjoy in America.  I don't mean live in an embassy situation, or on a  U. S. military base, but truly live with the people, shop where they shop, worship where they worship, live as they live...for an extended period of time.  We do not have to have the constraints so many people have.  We do not have to carry identity papers with us to show who we are or that we have a right to be where we are.  I have decided that those who think we are not free do not understand the absence of freedom. 

When people within the U. S. say they hate our country, or are unhappy with the laws of the land, I wish they would be given a forced opportunity to live somewhere else in the world where the freedoms we enjoy are not given.  I think they would have their eyes opened to the freedoms we enjoy.

As I sit here writing, I'm hearing fireworks.  I'm so grateful they are a beautiful array of celebration, not a fear that missiles will hit my home next....

Especially in this election year, I hope all of us in the U. S., who are able, will be registered to vote...and then vote.  I hope as we assess those who are candidates, we will choose those who will uphold the Constitution and not marginalize it, those who will hold firm in correcting policies which have caused government to grow larger and larger, those who will make our Nation stronger.

If these things do not happen, we have some very hard times to come.  There may come the time in which our freedoms are as Viktor E. Frankl said,  “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”