Maybe I Have a Different Definition of Freedom

On this Independence day, I'm thinking about Freedom ... Freedom means so many things to so many people. People have died that others may have freedom. Others have stood up to civil injustice to cultivate social freedom. Wars have been faught in the name of freedom. Political campaigns and slogans leverage the word. So much historical upheaval so that humanity could be... "free".
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But what really is freedom?
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None of the things on this image are bad. But on this day of celebrating our freedom, let us not pretend that freedom is just a military victory or a political position, or an American Dream. While I am honoured and grateful for the history of our country and sacrifices of so, so many that I will never take for granted... Let us not feed our children a life script that enslaves them, numbs them, and indebts them and then call it "freedom".
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Freedom is not an external thing. It is truly an internal thing, that can in turn create an outward culture. It is a space we live in, a state of mind, an internal knowingness that we are. That is what our forefathers knew and that is why the Declaration of Independence was signed.
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That is why Paul & Silas could speak with kindness and sing hymns while sitting shackled in prison. (Acts 16:25) They lived in freedom. That is why the family of Robert Godwin Sr. could say after their father was gunned down during a Facebook video that "each one of us forgives the killer, the murderer. We want to wrap our arms around him." They know internal freedom.
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Freedom was our eternal, inner gift long before it was our country's motto. Freedom is an untethering from anger, guilt, shame, fear, and obligation. Freedom feels like Joy and acts like Love. Freedom is our natural state, because of Him. Christ came so that we may wake up and KNOW we are free. If you don't know that freedom, then move in a little closer to Him. Let us really BE. FREE. And may we teach our children the same, and continue to create a culture that knows the same.

#happy4th #independence #freedom #Himinus #love #joy