Celebrate Freedom

Dear Blah,

I have a little story for you. I hope it helps.

In doing research to answer your question, I ran across an essay written by an eighth-grader, Clarice Neitzel. She writes, “To me, freedom means to be able to learn from my mistakes. If I didn’t have freedom, I would have to do what the top authorities always tell me to do. I don’t have any room for mistakes so it would be harder to learn about life.”

I love this concept. I hope Clarice’s attitude grew out of her parents and teachers allowing her to learn from her mistakes. Clarice concludes her essay with, “Just remember, we are the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Don’t you love the “we are” rather than we “live in”?

If this isn’t enough to move you from “blah” to “hurrah,” how about this quote from Peter Marshall, Chaplain for the US Senate, 1947.

“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please but as the opportunity to do what is right.”

Happy Fourth of July!