Independence Day

There [can] be no freedom without each of us discharging our responsibilities. (Paraphrase of Clarence Thomas, supreme court justice)

On this important holiday, we most often think of the liberties and freedom that were won for us by our Founding Fathers at great personal cost. But Thomas points us to the equally important duty of all of us to preserve our freedoms. He wrote, “There [is] always . . . a connection between the things we [value] most and our personal obligations or efforts [to sustain them].

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Galatians 5:13)