Looking at life in our house, I’m pretty sure that my children (ages 10 and 8) do not see the rules their father and I have created as providing freedom. Like most kids, I think they see our household rules as preventing them from their true ability to enjoy life and doing the things they think will make them happy (I know I did when I was their age J). Of course I hope and pray (as I’m sure my parents did for me and my sisters) that there will come a day when they will look back at the way they were raised and be grateful. They will understand that what their father and I put in place actually provided them with a means to stay safe, to make good choices, and to succeed on the journey.
But we aren’t the only parents who have rules for their children. We’re told in the Old Testament (Exodus 20) that God the Father gave Moses the Ten Commandments as a means for His people to be safe, make good choices, and succeed on the journey.
And the United States of America was fashioned in the same way. It was shaped by our Christian forefathers displaying wisdom, knowledge, and understanding…all gifts of the Holy Spirit. Building on Judeo-Christian foundations, they planted the seeds for future generations to live faith-filled lives, freely and without cause for concern. And they set up laws like the Constitution and Bill of Rights under which they knew our country could prosper.
But when we bend the rules, whether we’re at home, as Catholic Christians or as Americans, in such a way as to suit our own needs or justify our choices, we are really only pushing our chance for real happiness further and further away. There is no freedom in that. True freedom exists within a structure created on the premise that there IS a greater good and that everyone MUST contribute to it, not detract from it.
So as we celebrate our nation’s independence today, let us remember that we are only truly free when we understand that the laws are meant for our peace and prosperity and only enslave us when we use them to justify our collapse into sinful behavior. And if we really want change, we ought to turn, individually and as a nation, back to God because, as Scripture says in Matthew 19:26, with God all things are possible. Maybe that’s the change that will make a difference…the change that will set us free.
By Deborah Gretzinger (No RE-Gretz)
But we aren’t the only parents who have rules for their children. We’re told in the Old Testament (Exodus 20) that God the Father gave Moses the Ten Commandments as a means for His people to be safe, make good choices, and succeed on the journey.
And the United States of America was fashioned in the same way. It was shaped by our Christian forefathers displaying wisdom, knowledge, and understanding…all gifts of the Holy Spirit. Building on Judeo-Christian foundations, they planted the seeds for future generations to live faith-filled lives, freely and without cause for concern. And they set up laws like the Constitution and Bill of Rights under which they knew our country could prosper.
But when we bend the rules, whether we’re at home, as Catholic Christians or as Americans, in such a way as to suit our own needs or justify our choices, we are really only pushing our chance for real happiness further and further away. There is no freedom in that. True freedom exists within a structure created on the premise that there IS a greater good and that everyone MUST contribute to it, not detract from it.
So as we celebrate our nation’s independence today, let us remember that we are only truly free when we understand that the laws are meant for our peace and prosperity and only enslave us when we use them to justify our collapse into sinful behavior. And if we really want change, we ought to turn, individually and as a nation, back to God because, as Scripture says in Matthew 19:26, with God all things are possible. Maybe that’s the change that will make a difference…the change that will set us free.
By Deborah Gretzinger (No RE-Gretz)
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