Freedom is NOT Free

Yet it is beyond price. Freedom is essential to our ability to experience a full and independent life. Here in America, our freedoms are the cornerstone upon which democracy rests. As essential as the air we breathe – if we are to “breathe free.”

It is important on Memorial Day to take time to reflect with gratitude toward all those who paid the ultimate price for us to be free. It is a time for reverence to the cause of liberty that they preserved for us. No small thing. No small sacrifice. Since for so many of them it was life itself.

How can we repay them? What do we owe them?

We have an obligation to value and preserve the freedoms upon which our way of life depends. We must never take Freedom of Speech, of Assembly, of Religion, of Independent thinking for granted. It is incumbent upon us to use our freedoms to protect the full spectrum of our freedoms.

Let each of us resolve not to think twice about speaking up and speaking out when we see those rights being abused. That is our generation’s Call to Action!

It is a battle against inertia and indifference. And it must be fought often, and often for small victories. Or no victory at all. But the effort needs to be made. Protecting those precious freedoms from being nibbled away is no small thing either.

A Few More

I would like to advocate for several secondary freedoms as well. These are on the more personal level, though they seem necessary to encourage the human spirit. They support our curiosity and spontaneous freedom of movement.

• The Freedom to Make Mistakes and the Freedom to Make Foolish Choices
• The Freedom to Ignore our Critics
• The Freedom to Change our Mind – to see things differently as we go along.

Going Forward

So in the spirit of the day, let us STAND UP FOR FREEDOM and all who made it possible in our lives. Now’s the time to exercise them to the fullest! And with great reverence for how we got them.