|
|
|
|
Virtual Christian Magazine Editorial What Freedom Means
By Jeff Osborn
lso known as Independence Day, July 4th is a celebration of
the founding of the United States. It is a celebration of freedom.
Our bid for freedom has been
costly. Thousands upon thousands of lives have been lost defending it.
Countless families have, at least in this lifetime, forfeited some of the
joy that goes with fireworks, family outings, cook outs and trips to the
beach.
But the sacrifices that have been
made for you and me to enjoy the basic freedoms
should not go unrecognized. Americans enjoy freedoms that most of the
world can only dream of--in fact, sometimes the possibility is so far
removed that they can't even bring themselves to dream of such freedoms
that Americans take for granted in their daily routine.
We should enjoy the freedom that
we have, and we should be thankful for it. We should also realize that
with freedom comes enormous responsibility. The more freedom we have, the
more responsibility we must shoulder.
I asked several of my friends what
freedom meant to them. I would like to share with you some of their
responses:
-
"I understand freedom to be
the basic right of mankind, which God has legislated through His laws. We
see freedom the essence of the Sabbath law, and the fundamental reason
for all civil law which God created.
God did not make us good or bad,
but made us FREE. It is this gift that enables creativity to become like
God. Free to follow Christ's example, free not to. Free to love one
another, and free not to.
"It is in the choosing to
follow righteousness, choosing to ask God for help, that a person can truly
become like God, Who is also free. It is this freedom that makes His love
so genuine."
-
"If I had to choose one word
that best describes freedom, it would be the word choices. No person is
truly free until they have the ability to make choices of their own and to
be free to receive the consequences of those choices, good, bad or
indifferent."
-
"Freedom means many things
to me, but among them is the freedom to get hurt. Under this broad banner is
included the freedom to be poor. I know how strange this sounds, but
think about it. One of the driving forces in a society is fear--fear
of going hungry, fear of being cold and without shelter, fear of having no money in your old age, fear of
not being able to pay the rent.
"For many people, this is
all that drives them to work in the morning. And when the government in its
wisdom removes all fear, it has also taken away your freedom. And by
removing the freedom to get hurt, they remove all excitement from life.
When you no longer are free to get hurt, you are no longer free to
climb trees."
-
"Freedom, in its most
critical application, has everything to do with personal integrity. Historically,
we have so many examples of lack of personal freedom with regard to
physical constraints, and that is not to mankind's credit. But the most
unacceptable form of virtual imprisonment is mind control.
"We are what we believe,
what we feel, and what we do. If we hand over the reins to another human, we
loose the essence of our very being. No one can take away from us what we
are unwilling to hand over but, like Esau, we are vulnerable (or
oblivious) at times and may find that we've sacrificed our spiritual
inheritance (or personal integrity) for any number of fleeting rewards. Freedom, to me, is to retain
responsibility for my thoughts and
actions."
-
"I have adopted the words of
a Nazi concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl to help me define freedom.
We are all free no matter what Situation we are in. The choice
is ours. People can do horrible things to our physical bodies, even down
to taking everything away from us (as Frankl describes it stripped down
naked and even the hair taken from your body). But we are all free
to choose how we respond to what is done to us. Frankl observed among
those prisoners who failed that it was '...only the men who allowed
their inner hold on their moral and spiritual selves to subside
eventually fell victim to the camp's degenerating influences.'
"Too many times we blame
other people, events and circumstances for our failings and our actions and our
lack of freedom. True freedom is realizing we have the choice as
to how we respond to events and circumstances and what we do with
our lives. 'That which does not kill me, makes me stronger'. And as
we turn our life over to God we are doubly blessed in that we have
the Holy Spirit to protect and guide our minds. With that kind of help, we
are able to bear anything.
"The two things that Frankl
explained robbed us of our freedom were -- bitterness and disillusionment.
Frankl explained from his observations that these two attitudes damage
the character of the free man. And of course, God warns us strongly
about the root of bitterness."
Yes, my friends, the more freedom
we have, the more responsibility we shoulder. On this 4th of July and on every
other day, let's be thankful for the freedoms that we enjoy and, please,
let's be responsible in exercising our freedoms.
Copyright 1999 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved.
|
|
|