Freedom...

Today we celebrate.
We celebrate our freedom.
Freedom to say what we wish,
Freedom to work.
Freedom to learn,
Freedom to go where we choose.
Freedom to make the world a better place,
Freedom to have a family.
Freedom to worship how we choose,
Freedom to do choose what we do.

We live in the United States of America. I for one am guilty of taking this for granted. I foolishly have assumed from time to time that it has always been this way. Although I know deep in the recess of mind mind that this is not so.

I took the time to read the Declaration of Independence today. (If you haven't done this yet this year, there is a link at the bottom of this post you can use to get to it.) I remember reading this in school, but for some reason it did not resonate with me then as it does now.

I am in awe of those brave men and women who did what they had to do in order to give me the freedom that I enjoy. If you read it in full and realize the things that our forefathers had to endure prior to declaring this a sovereign nation, one can only imagine how brave these people must have been to stand up and have a voice. It had to be a very scary thing to do. I imagine that they worried for their lives and families as they each signed the declaration. Yet, they signed that declaration and continued to fight for what they believed to be the right thing.

I think it was best said by President Woodruff in the April 1898 General Conference-

“those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits … [and they] were inspired of the Lord.”

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm