As I am “launching” this blog on Veterans’ Day 2015, I thought I’d post a “modest” reflection on “freedom.” People these days like to talk a lot about “my rights,” “my freedom to live as I choose,” and so on. We live in such an individualistic, “me” focused culture, that it seems to me that the cost of the freedoms we enjoy is often lost in the noise of one “me” voice trying to out shout other “me” voices. The fact of the matter is, as the saying goes, “Nothing is for free!” Sacrifices have been and continue to be made in order that we may enjoy the freedoms granted to us as U. S. citizens. While I was still on active duty in the Navy, I remember having to pass through a rather animated crowd of protestors at an access gate to the submarine base where I was stationed. The irony of the situation was that these folks were protesting the very institution that provided the freedom they were exercising! Our culture seems to want carte blanche freedom without any of the obligations associated with exercising that freedom. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words to the church in Corinth, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:19-20, ESV). Our freedoms have been bought with the precious blood and sacrifices of those who have and continue to serve in our armed forces. We respect those sacrifices by respecting all those for whom those sacrifices were made, recognizing that it is not always about “me.” As those bought by the precious blood of Christ, Christians especially ought to manifest love for one another even in the midst of significant disagreement: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35, ESV) . . . JRL
“Passing on the Faith” 