Let Freedom Ring
A towhee struck the first note. I paused and listened. Sunrise was still a good forty-five minutes away. An owl hooted and then another. My ears were tuned for turkeys, but there were none to be heard. I was hiking in a ways, trying to get a couple miles off the beaten path, away from where all the turkey hunters seemed to have been putting their focus for the past four weeks. I had worked late last evening trying to justify this morning's hunt. My plan was to hike and listen, hike and listen. If I heard a gobble I would stop and hunt. If that didn't happen before daylight, I would stop at the first turkey sign that I found, sit and call occasionally, and write my blog. And so here I sit, writing and listening. What a privilege to do so.
Saturday was the graduation at Garrett College. Both of our oldest kids got to walk with Caleb getting his certificate in Cyber Security and Aiyana getting her Associates of Arts with a concentration in math and science.
Caleb was doing dual enrollment at Garrett, meaning that he was finishing up high school and taking some college classes at the same time. Aiyana was getting an Associates Degree with the eventual goal being a degree in environmental engineering. She will be moving on to WVU in the fall. We were proud of both of them. They both have their mother's smarts and my good looks, so hopefully they will do well in life. In all honesty, I'm pretty sure that Jenelle has me beat in both of those areas. Maybe my contribution is instilling in them the idea that they have a purpose and the freedom to choose what they do in life. Of course there are guidelines and boundaries that they need to live within, but beyond that it's important not to let society and the circles that we hang out in determine our exact steps. Of course we should ask for advice and listen to others opinions but ultimately, if we want to walk in the path that God has for us, then we need to make those decisions ourselves.
Caleb gets tired of our asking, but we've been asking and others have as well, what are your plans after high school? What is next? He loves all of the techy stuff but his plans are to take some classes at a Bible College next fall, not because we've pressured him, but because that's what he wants to do. When someone questions the classes he will be taking his answer has me chuckling inwardly. It's usually something like, “I'm not necessarily going to school just for a degree.” I love it that to him, life is more than just a career, and that he takes that liberty seriously.
Jenelle’s parents were here for the graduation, so after church on Sunday, we took a little trip out to Fort Necessity. It was a pretty day out and so we walked to Washington's Tavern from the Fort which is only a quarter mile away. As I was standing on the little knoll above the fort where George Washington and his men got their butts whooped by the French, I couldn't help but to think about freedom, what it is, what it's not. I wondered what the Indian thought when first the French came and then English. Would he be better off fighting them both so they would both leave? Or if he took a side would one offer him freedom? Which side should he choose?
At first, a lot of the tribes sided with the French because they were traders and the English made it clear that King George would own the land if the English won. But for King George to win the war he needed help, and so he changed his tune. He promised that the colonists would stay east of the mountains, east of the Continental Divide. If I had been that Indian, which side would I have joined? It probably would have been based on the question of which side would have given me the freedom to roam like I do today, and which side would make all of the land a designated “stay out of here” area? He chose freedom.
In 1763 the Line of Proclamation was established. It pretty much followed the Eastern Continental Divide. There were different reasons for creating the Line of Proclamation, but the fact that the King of England was trying to tell the colonists what they couldn't do did not sit well with them, especially since lots of them were already living west of the line. It was just another irritation that helped lead to the Revolutionary War. And so they fought for freedom.
With that came our independence from England. And with that came the responsibility of maintaining a country where individual freedoms are most important. And since everyone in this new government is seen as equal, those freedoms can't stomp out someone else's freedoms. It takes a lot of work on the governmental level to make it all pan out.
Saturday evening we went to a party for a friend that just received her citizenship. I was reminded of how lucky I am to have been born here. I was reminded of when my mother became a citizen and the work and studying that it took to pass the citizenship test, a test that most born Americans can't pass. I was reminded of my Dad's family and how for generations we've been born citizens even way back before the Revolutionary War started. It’s easy to forget that freedom isn’t free. It’s easy to forget the Indian that gave some of his freedom for ours. It’s easy to forget about the men and women who have sacrificed and fought for this freedom. As I sit here and think about the Indians that looked down on the fort and chose sides based on freedom, I can't help but think that we're all just one big melting pot of different peoples that all believe in freedom. It's easy to forget to be thankful for what we have.
There is a constant battle in what freedom looks like. Even here in the state forest there's often the argument that individuals should own all of the land, and not the government. Just like that Indian looking down at the fort, I have an opinion. Personally I would love to own it all. But I know I can't. So we give a little and take a little. And we protect our freedom. Maybe what’s best is for the private sector to own some and the public to own some. After all, we the people are the government, not King George. Let's not forget it!
Let freedom ring!
