Greater
love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Two
hundred thirty-nine years ago yesterday, Captain Samuel Ransom left the
comparative safety of a fort to find out what he could to try to help the people
of Wyoming Valley, PA. He was captured, tortured and killed by the Indians.
Later, one of his sons was captured by other Indians and sold to the British.
The British kept their prisoners in a building with no windows or heat during
the winter. He escaped and traveled on foot to find freedom. My family honors these
men. My family honors these men for the courage shown and sacrifices made in
the struggle for freedom.
Independence Day is a day on which we celebrate our freedom, but I think we’ve lost track of what freedom means and costs. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!” some will say, thinking that happiness means doing whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want with whomever you want. Freedom, to some, is all about me, Me, ME, ME.
We honor those who sacrifice their lives for our freedom, we claim to prize freedom for ourselves – and often for others – but how often are we unwilling to sacrifice our freedom, or even our convenience, for the freedom of others? Why? Ultimately, I think we lack the love for ourselves or for others that would make the sacrifice of our freedom of small import. We love our so-called freedom more than we love ourselves or others – more than we love God, and so we become slaves of the lie we call freedom and slaves to our worst nature instead of our best.
Yesterday I wrote about the double helix of our purpose: love and truth. The best freedom is the freedom to pursue those purposes. That means that those who seek to enslave often either claim that freedom means disconnection from those purposes and the discipline they require, or that those purposes are just a little different from what we believed. Both lies destroy both us and those who become our victims we distort love and truth. This is why “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else” is a lie – because “it” always hurts someone unless it is truly love and truly true and is done freely.
Independence Day is a day on which we celebrate our freedom, but I think we’ve lost track of what freedom means and costs. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!” some will say, thinking that happiness means doing whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want with whomever you want. Freedom, to some, is all about me, Me, ME, ME.
We honor those who sacrifice their lives for our freedom, we claim to prize freedom for ourselves – and often for others – but how often are we unwilling to sacrifice our freedom, or even our convenience, for the freedom of others? Why? Ultimately, I think we lack the love for ourselves or for others that would make the sacrifice of our freedom of small import. We love our so-called freedom more than we love ourselves or others – more than we love God, and so we become slaves of the lie we call freedom and slaves to our worst nature instead of our best.
Yesterday I wrote about the double helix of our purpose: love and truth. The best freedom is the freedom to pursue those purposes. That means that those who seek to enslave often either claim that freedom means disconnection from those purposes and the discipline they require, or that those purposes are just a little different from what we believed. Both lies destroy both us and those who become our victims we distort love and truth. This is why “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else” is a lie – because “it” always hurts someone unless it is truly love and truly true and is done freely.
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