Give Me Freedom

As summer is upon us, I can’t help thinking of July 4th, Independence Day. We remember Patrick Henry saying, ‘Give me freedom or give me death!’ I’m reminded as I recall my family history of my ancestors from Germany, England, and Ireland, of the great struggles they were willing to go through, for a purpose. Yes, economics and opportunity would be on this side of the ocean. But the great cost paid in so many ways had to be for more than just that. Freedom is a great motivator. And for many, the oppression they sought to get away from was most grievous in the area of freedom to have a relationship with God in their own way, not the way dictated by the elite authorities of the dominate national religious institution. Freedom to love, worship, and relate to God was worth all the sacrifice, even to the point of the risk of life. Life without freedom with God was unthinkable. May it still be!