Perhaps I should have saved today's word for a patriotic day... No matter, I felt this day is as good as any.
liberty
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
noun 1. Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind. 2. Natural liberty, consists in the power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature. It is a state of exemption from the control of others, and from positive laws and the institutions of social life. This liberty is abridged by the establishment of government. 3. Civil liberty, is the liberty of men in a state of society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of the society, state or nation. A restraint of natural liberty, not necessary or expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression. civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another. Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty. 4. Political liberty, is sometimes used as synonymous with civil liberty. But it more properly designates the liberty of a nation, the freedom of a nation or state from all unjust abridgment of its rights and independence by another nation. Hence we often speak of the political liberties of Europe, or the nations of Europe. 5. Religious liberty, is the free right of adopting and enjoying opinions on religious subjects, and of worshiping the Supreme Being according to the dictates of conscience, without external control. 10. Freedom of action or speech beyond the ordinary bounds of civility or decorum.
Why did our forefathers immigrate to America in the first place?
Freedom of Religion. The liberty to worship the King of heaven.
Freedom from Oppression. The liberty to raise their children on the foundation of the Bible, not that of the government.
Alas, Freedom isn't Free.
"I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
[Patrick Henry]
[William Barclay]
However, through the unfailing Love of an Almighty King...
"...the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
[Romans 8:21, KJV]
What an amazing promise!
Comments
Post a Comment
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, and a book of rules,
And each must make, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone.
-Anonymous-