LIBERTY. What an amazing word. What an amazing concept. What a costly reality.
Yesterday was Veteran's Day...the day when our nation honors those who have served throughout the years in the United States military. How appropriate, but especially this year after the horror at Fort Hood only a week ago. We do not expect our soldiers to face opposition from one who has taken the oath to defend our nation and to defend freedom around the world.
Charlie and I had the privilege of attending a Veteran's Day ceremony yesterday at our granddaughter's school. She wanted her grandpa to come to the program and to wear his "military outfit!" She had never seen him in his uniform.
It was a special day and the program was very good. The students from each grade sang songs about our nation, and the veterans who attended were introduced and honored.
We were a military family for 26 years. Charlie was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force on a Saturday in May, 1967, and we were married the next day. (He never forgot our anniversary!)
Nations have a military for different reasons. In America, first is for self-defense. Other nations build a military force to conquer other nations and build empires. I am thankful that as we study the history of America, that has never been our purpose. When American soldiers have fought on foreign soil, it has been for the purpose of liberty. We have not fought to conquer and control other nations, but so that nations would have the same freedoms and self-rule that our nation enjoys.
A military uniform can look impressive. The decorations and honors are worn with the rank the military member has been awarded. However, as in many things in life, it is not just the outside that is important. I am married to a man whose heart is drawn toward peace and liberty. He is not a violent man, but a man of love and compassion.
I remember a conversation I had many years ago with a friend who was a U.S. Air Force pilot. He flew an F-4 fighter jet. He commented that his strongest motive for serving in the military was that he is a lover of PEACE. I asked how he could be in the military, fly a fighter, and believe so strongly in peace. He responded with, "You don't want someone in the military that does not believe in peace. It is those who want peace that fight for freedom."
Over the years I have thought back to that conversation. We have seen terrorists who kill innocent civilians with surprise bombings. We have seen oppression and violation of human rights around the world. But we have the privilege of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and desire that for all men, women and children in the world.
This day I am thankful for the freedoms I have. I do not take them for granted. I have read that those who have not fought for their freedoms tend to treat them lightly. I will not treat those freedoms as anything but privileges that bring forth gratitude. And I am thankful for those who gave their lives for me to have those freedoms. May we seek to use our freedoms responsibly... for the good of our nation, our communities, and our world...and not for selfish endeavors and purposes. In this way, we honor those who died so that we could live in a free nation.
We who are Christians, have other freedoms that many do not experience. Those freedoms are far beyond this world and cannot be controlled by situations or people of this world. God has given us inner freedom from fear, worry and anxiety, from sin and other inner bondages in our hearts. Jesus Christ died to set us free and deliver us from the oppression of the evil in the world. We even look forward to life after this world, because we know we will spend eternity with a God of love, purpose, forgiveness and wholeness. And our days on this earth are lived with divine purpose and destiny, as we serve Him and share His love with those who do not yet know Him.
Even those Christians who live in nations where there is outward oppression and persecution, have inner peace and freedom in their hearts. I remember the testimony of a prisoner of war from the Vietnam era who spent nearly seven years in a dirty cell with rats and bugs. He shared that as he looked through the bars on his cell door at the guard on the outside, and as he lived those years of being tortured, near starvation, and violently interrogated, he still knew who was "the real prisoner." It was the guard, living in his own prison of inner violence, anger and hatred. This man, though living as a prisoner, had the inner freedom that comes with the gift of salvation and all Christ died on the cross to give us. He spent much of his time in that cell praying for his fellow prisoners, but also praying for those captors whose hearts were emprisoned.
A price paid was for our liberty. Veterans have died for our nation's freedom. Jesus Christ gave His life for our inner freedom. May we truly celebrate the gifts we have every day and may we lift our voices and use that freedom to share with others and to cry out to God on their behalf.
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