The True Cost Of Freedom

With Memorial Day followed a month later by Independence Day, early summer is a time when we in America should be thinking a lot about freedom and what it costs. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  And to all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, we are eternally grateful. To those also who have sacrificed careers, marriages, and limbs, as well as physical and mental health we are forever indebted.

With freedom though comes responsibility.  If you and I are both going to be free, my freedom to be a lazy bum should not interfere with your freedom to benefit from your hard work.  Right? And if I exercise my freedom to climb a mountain, I should also accept the risk and responsibility for falling and breaking my leg. Right?  Nothing speaks louder about your gratefulness than what you do with the freedom you have been given. Every time we allow or worse yet demand that the government step in and force others to mitigate the risks of freedom, to that degree we dishonor our freedom and the sacrifices so many have paid to preserve it!  Each and every day we should be asking ourselves, did I use my freedom today to contribute and excel, or did I waste and throw away my gift. Because you are free, you have those choices.

That being said, the biggest reason I value Freedom so much is that it inseparably goes hand-in-hand with Love.  By its very nature, Love can be neither coerced or forced. It flourishes only in the sunshine of Freedom. We’ve talked about this before, and it’s important enough that we will certainly talk about it again.  But right now I’d like to think about this in terms of our responsibility to our neighbors, the obligation we have as free citizens to care for others.

You see, one of the choices our freedom gives us is the choice to be self-centered.  This choice is most glaringly illustrated in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged.  Intending to champion the superiority of capitalism over socialism and government welfare, she totally dismisses the third option – voluntary social entrepreneurship.  Which model you are drawn to will totally depend on the core values you have chosen. But if you, like me, believe that Love is integral to human happiness, health, and wellbeing, then you will have to favor a model of government that jealously protects our freedom, and at the same time a model of personal behavior that freely chooses to sacrifice for the welfare of others.  Because – and here’s the point I want you to hear today – if you do not use your freedom to care for others in need, you will lose it!  And all the sacrifices of those we celebrate at this time of year will have been wasted.

Let me say that again, if you do not use your freedom to care for others in need, you will lose it.  Remember the French Revolution? If those blessed with comfort, joy, and hope do not find a way to help others experience the same, it will be taken away from them.  Look at your news today, can you see it happening again? Ayn Rand was right, government can’t do it without ending up with a failing communist dictatorship like the one she came from in real life.  But her fantasy of escaping to a hedonistic utopia was just that, pure fantasy. If you really want to honor those who have sacrificed for your freedom, use it responsibly –

• Spend and save your money wisely.
• Guard your health as if your life depended on it – it does!
• Be generous with your resources – time, wealth, and expertise.
• Seek out and support individuals and businesses that do the same.

So while you are enjoying your barbecue and oo-ing and awh-ing over the fireworks, take some time to do some self-reflection and ask yourself what you personally are doing to honor your freedom.  Not only that, but what more can you do to step up your game? Do that, and maybe, just maybe we will save our great country.