Freedom

It is for freedom that we have been set free, says the apostle Paul. This has been heavy on my heart these past days. As I've watched a color guard at a high school football game or listened to the national anthem or GOD bless America during the world series, I've been reminded of the numerous young men that I've known personally who have sacrificed their life in foreign soil surrounded by unfamiliar people and customs.

Two weeks ago a friend spent four days in a Mexican jail and was miraculously released ... he can talk about freedom!

Last weekend we drove to Bryan, Texas to visit a lifelong friend who is serving thirty months in a federal prison camp [I typed out the number because it takes longer and helps me remember how long that really is] While conditions may be better in a minimal security unit, one's freedom is taken away. There is no choice in what's for dinner, no choice in when to rise or rest, no choice in what to wear, no choice to just walk outside to enjoy the sunshine or to return inside because it's too cold. The freedom to hug another person or to lay a comforting hand on a hurting friend have been taken away.

Upon our return I realized that I have the freedom to get in a car and drive where ever I want. Karen and I decided on a light dinner of fruit and cheese and as I experienced the various flavors of grapes, pears, apple, and different cheeses - I realized just how special those simple moments are.

Perhaps it is appropriate during this Thanksgiving season that these blessings of freedom well up within me to remind me that we drink from wells that we have not dug. We walk on paths that have been cleared and smoothed by those who have walked before us. The peace that we share was bought at a premium price. The grace and the joy in which we live was at the cost of freedom that one gave up ... willingly laying down his life ... so that I might have freedom from those things that hold us captive in a world that does not know freedom.

I am thankful.