Freedom

What Freedom is...

• The ability to worship God in a way that leads you to God.
• The strength to let go of self-righteousness to see the righteousness in someone else.
• The humility to let go of pride to open your mind.
• The compassion to reach out and help someone who needs it.
• The love to offer forgiveness when you are hurt
• The integrity to ask for forgiveness when you hurt someone else.
• The confidence to dance to the music you hear
• The sense of humor to laugh when it's funny
• The empathy to understand the pain of someone else
• The need to seek after the right
• The voice to speak for justice
• The courage to proceed in fear
• The gratitude for the blessings you have received

What Freedom is not....

• Doing what you want when you want it
• Using the Bible as a tool of hatred
• Judging others
• Blaming God for our own shortcomings and sins
• Binding God to patriotism, and assuming they are the same thing
• Closing our minds to the idea that we might be wrong
• Trapping ourselves in the despair of vengeance
• Cutting ourselves off from the love of others and of God

Today Steve left Huntington as part of a bike ride to raise money to benenfit the homeless veterans in our town.  He and seven other men are riding from Huntington to Washington, DC - a total of 425 miles in six days.  They have so far raised over $23,000.

He is my hero.