For many of us, Independence Day is a day of cook-outs and fireworks. If we don't live in a place that has preserved colonial history, or if we live further west, Independence Day may seem a distant holiday. But today is a good day to remember the high stakes that those signers of the Declaration of Independence faced. It's good to remember how much they valued the idea of freedom, even if they didn't extend those freedoms to all.
It's a good day to think about what liberties we hold most valuable. Those signers pledged their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor--what would you pledge?
You might think that the freedom to practice my spiritual faith is most important to me, and I do value that. But having access to information might be even more important to me. If I had to choose my favorite right from the Bill of Rights, it might be freedom of the Press.
I like the ability to read just about anything that comes my way. But maybe the ability to create is even more precious to me. Unlike Chinese artists, I don't have to worry about being arrested and sent to jail.
I like the freedom of movement we have in this country--granted that's not a freedom that we find enshrined in our founding documents. But the other freedoms lead to that freedom of movement--both physical movement and the movement of our minds.
I like being able to follow the path, wherever it leads. I want to leave some light as I go along to lead a way to others.
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