Are You Free?

It’s Independence Day in the United States on the day of this writing.

As I’m moving through my day, I’m contemplating the idea of what freedom is.

As I share my thoughts, I pray that they will stir you to think about what freedom looks like for you.
When I think of freedom, I think of some obvious things. I’m not in an institution that requires me to be there. I can get in my car and drive to many destinations that I wish to go to. I can choose what religion I practice. I can decide what hair style I want. I get to choose what clothing to wear daily. I can love who I want to love.

I am a blessed man.

There are millions of people in this world who don’t have these freedoms. They’re not able to drive a car even if they owned one, they might be killed if they practice a religion, and they cannot love or marry the person of their choice.

There are those that may argue that everyone is able to choose to do whatever they want and experience the consequences of those actions. Yes, they have a choice, but the choices aren’t always good. There are many that don’t even have the luxury of deciding between life and death. They are ill or dying and have lost the freedom to live the life they want to live.

This is not freedom. Having to hide a religion or face public ridicule is not freedom. Not being able to choose the clothes you want to wear is not freedom.

We are all subject to the boundaries that others put on us. Some of us just have much better and less painful choices to make. Having the restriction of a restaurant being closed is a far cry from not knowing where you are going to get your next meal. Having a church being shut down due to social distancing is not the same as being afraid of walking into a religious building.

Despite these challenges, we are free in many ways.

We all have the freedom to think what we want to think. We all have the freedom to have our opinions. We may be restricted from voicing them, but we do have the freedom to have them.

We have the freedom to like what we like. Maybe we cannot express that today, but we still have the right to desire those things.

We have the freedom to improve ourselves. We could be limited physically or financially, but we can still improve something.

We have the freedom to hope for a better future. The future might seem dark and difficult, but we still have the right to hope for it.

We have the freedom to forgive ourselves for our past behaviors, and we can forgive others for theirs.

We have the freedom to let go of resentments and any other anger that keeps us stuck.

We have the freedom to act respectfully towards those people whom we care about.

We have the freedom to encourage ourselves to have a better future.

There are many in our world that have freedoms that you will never have. And, there are freedoms you have that others will never experience.

We are all in a different place in this life, and freedom is a relative term.

I invite you to think about how you feel free in your life, and how you can ask to be freer.

You deserve to be free. You deserve to decide what freedom looks like for you. If you are not experiencing it, know that you still deserve it. Being born gave you the right to be free.

I pray for the day when everyone can choose the life they want. We are a long way from that on this planet, but I still believe it’s possible.

I will do my part today to advocate for my freedom and the freedom of all those who desire it.

Are you free today?

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