The River of Freedom

“It can be kept fresh, from our vigilance. The life, or death, of the river of freedom is in our hands.” The river of freedom is such a simple tale (that looks vaguely “Rocky and Bullwinkle”-ish) but it’s one that effectively cuts through to the heart of what freedom and liberty are all about.

Freedom is a wonderful gift from God and it’s one we should cherish amongst all of the gifts with which our Creator has endowed us. Yet freedom is such a painful thing. Among the problems of freedom is the need for control, or at least the perceived need for control. It was a sad time during the video when the river started to become clouded and the people who were enjoying the river tried to hoard it to themselves.

An outsider looking at our society right now may observe many things. One may observe our lack of reverence for freedom. We rush off to protect something we believe in at the cost of someone or something else’s freedom. One may rightly say we’ve lost our ability to cherish it. Our lack of understanding is both a blessing and a curse when it comes to freedom. On the one hand, we readily trade away freedom for something less worthwhile such as a fleeting sense of security. On the other hand, not knowing the power of freedom allows us a childlike enjoyment of it, which often ends when we’ve discovered through our freedoms just how hot the hot stove is, or that freedom implies a sense of sharing and fairness.

I wish our country heralded freedom as our founding fathers did. However, as much as I wish my country would revel in its freedom I wish that much more that my church would. I’ll gladly trade my national hope for a catholic one. Oh that God’s people would recall the joy that true freedom brings and not be chained down. Oh that I would enjoy the true freedom offered by Jesus and his good news.