Freedom

"Hey mom, when I get older, I am going to do what I want to do. I am going to eat what I want to eat and I am going to get up when I want to get up." Nobody is going to tell me what to do." This is the mind of my childs' idea of freedom.

On the fourth of July I sat in church and took refuge in the arms of my Lord. I love His embrace, to feel His presence and to see Him at work. There were many nations under His roof on the 4th. I looked around at the pews of people and saw many nations under one God. He spoke to a mass of His people in one hour. We prayed, we listened, we celebrated, we remembered, we confessed and we forgave. We believe.

Freedom is different for each of us. My freedom is celebrated each day in my home with many holy reminders. My Bible sits on my night stand, pictures on my walls of the Virgin Mary, my Lord, the angels and saints. I light candles, use holy water and kneel before my Lord in prayer. I wore my freedom yesterday as I draped my scapular around my neck, wore my Benedictine medal given to me by my grandmother, carried my rosary in my purse accompanied by my prayer book. I listen to my Gregorian chant CD in my car and use the Lord's name in my conversations with my family, friends and acquaintances. I pray publicly when I eat dinner or go to church. This is what I call freedom even though it is a little different from that of my children or maybe your idea of freedom. Although we may each verbalize it differently, freedom does gives us the opportunity to express the heritage of our country through our one Divine God.

The American Flag that hangs from the front of my home whips and flaps in the wind as it is a constant reminder to me that God is ever present as He protects this country, this one nation under God. The pursuit to this personal freedom as disciples, believers and people of faith is through our right to free expression by praying publicly, gathering as people of God, and uniting as one body of Christ. If this freedom that God has so graciously given us (the ability to worshiping Him and to be this one nation under God) is taken for granted and these freedoms are removed we will become like many others who find themselves lost with no sense of direction as the sheep are without the shepherd. The severity of this loss will be devastating.

I'm just a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, aunt and grandma who believes that we must preserve and respect the gift of freedom as no other. This freedom is the legacy that we give our children and grandchildren. It allows us to come together as families on holidays to celebrate or to mourn at funerals but to give thanks to Him on all occasions.

The red in the American flag signifies to me Jesus' blood on the cross as a sacrifice for us to sustain freedom and love through Him. The white is the reminder of purity and holiness that we must strive to keep in our lives to be one with our Father and the blue reminds me of the Holy Spirit as He graciously guides us to Heaven through servitude to one another through love, faith, hope and belief in our one God.

Freedom: The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.