real freedom -- it's worth celebrating!

Today, I had a conversation with a friend who described his 4th of July plans -- to take his grandchildren into Boston for the reading of the Declaration of Independence.  He said that this was a tradition that he wanted to pass on.  What made it all the more meaningful was his delightful Polish accent -- which took great pride in this tradition.   There are so many Independence Day traditions -- the fireworks, BBQ, the Bristol Parade, the Boston Pops on the Esplanade with the 1812 Overture -- all of which remind us of those amazing ideas that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights which include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Lately I've been thinking about what guarantees our lives, our liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  It's easy to look at our history as a nation and find those moments -- like George Washington at Newburg, like Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, like Martin Luther King Jr at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial -- where the spirit of the nation stood on the edge of a razor.  At each of those moments, a leader validated the promises of the Declaration with courage, wisdom and hope. We  rejoice in the good fortune, honor the men who graced us with their lives and take hope from the fact that men like Washington, Lincoln and King are part of our heritage.

There is a deeper guarantee -- one for eternal life, one that promises freedom from the bondage of sin and evil, and one that promises that the pursuit of happiness is not a chimera. In John's Gospel, Jesus told us that I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10).  The apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the church at Corinth -- if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold, new things have come.  (2 Cor. 5:17).  These promises -- of abundant life, or newness, that the old things are really behind us when we are in Christ -- animate the life of freedom that the Christian can live as a birthright.  We can live as redeemed children of God and know the life of peace and joy that Jesus set before us.

But there is a key to experiencing the fullness of the joy set before us.  It is the key of forgiveness.  C. S. Lewis made the observation that those who say that forgiving is easy have never had anything to forgive!  I am convinced that when Jesus told Peter that he must forgive his brother seventy times seven times (Matthew 18:22) He was being quite literal.  On the path to forgiving someone four hundred ninety times, you will learn the heart of forgiveness and stop keeping score.  You will also learn the power of the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples ... And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors ... (Matthew 6:12);  that our experience of the joy of being forgiven is tied directly to how freely we forgive others. 

I am also convinced that along that path to forgiving four hundred ninety times, we will learn what Gandhi told us "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."  The strength to forgive comes from the understanding that none of us is perfect and from a heart that is grateful that it has been forgiven much.

If we would have life, liberty and pursue happiness -- they all begin in a life surrendered to Christ.  If we would find happiness and freedom, they are on the road of forgiveness.

Keep the faith

Richard