Freedom Isn’t Free

As you celebrate Memorial Day and go to family picnics, parades, pools, parks, to the ball games and to the firework displays, be intentional to honor those who have given, and continue to give, so you can live with the freedoms that we often take for granted.

Remember and honor those military men and women protecting our freedom around the world and for the police and firefighters who protect us in our homes, at work and in our schools. Give thanks for the freedoms made possible by the unimaginable sacrifices of our forefathers and foremothers.

Send your love, prayers and the resources needed to those who are fighting for their freedom in the Ukraine and those who have lost their freedom as they flee to neighboring countries to protect themselves and their families. And don’t forget those who are being persecuted because they are Christians in a country that hates them. And this weekend, make time to recall history’s ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. The sacrifice of complete love that Jesus paid for you and for me so we can be freed from the slavery of our sins and the sins of the whole world. 

But don’t stop there. Remember the next generation and those yet to come. Know that they too deserve the freedom you have been blessed with by those who have given their all. Remember how, over the past two years, you have witnessed how easily and quickly our freedoms can be taken. Businesses, churches and schools shut down. Sporting events, fundraisers, weddings and concerts cancelled. The doctors, students, politicians, clergy and employees who have been silenced as they fought for truth and have struggled to be heard over the clamor of confusion, fear and ‘misinformation’. Having been given a small taste of how precious and fragile our freedoms are, we now better understand why those who have fought so valiantly put so much on the line for freedom. 

I know that I have given little for the freedoms I have been endowed. For too long I have stood on the curb and merely waved to those marching in the parades who have risked it all. Our freedoms are in jeopardy and, like those who have paid the price, it is our turn to do more than just wave and cheer for those who deserve our honor. It is our turn to set aside our comfort and contentment to sacrifice and fight for the freedom that has been bought by the blood of others. 

Every day, and especially as you celebrate Memorial Day, ponder the question, “What am I willing to risk to protect the freedom provided to me, so the generations to come will, one day, be grateful for the freedom I have preserved for them. ”

Freedom Isn’t Free 

By Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day,

It fluttered in the breeze;

A young Marine saluted it,

And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform,

So young, so tall, so proud;

With hair cut square and eyes alert,

He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought . . . how many men like him

Had fallen through the years?

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers’ tears?

How many pilots’ planes shot down

How many died at sea

How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves

No, Freedom is not Free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,

When everything was still;

I listened to the bugler play,

And felt a sudden chill;

I wondered just how many times

That Taps had meant “Amen”

When a flag had draped a coffin

Of a brother or a friend;

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons and husbands.

With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

At the bottom of the sea,

Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

No. Freedom is not Free!