Freedom At What Price

Have a Great       Veterans Day!

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities . . . because it is the quality which guarantees all others." --Winston Churchill

WHAT PRICE FREEDOM?

    "You, my brothers (and sisters), were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another" (Galatians 5:13).

On this Veterans Day, people across America will pause to remember the price that has been paid by veterans throughout our nation's history for the freedoms we enjoy. On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln stood on the battlefield at Gettysburg to dedicate part of the land as a national cemetery. His words:

"We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that a nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Along with Gettysburg, there were Valley Forge, Flanders Field, Omaha Beach, Iwo Jima, Pork Chop Hill, the Mekong, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraqi Freedom and other conflicts involving our armed forces. What images of courage and carnage these wars bring to our minds! But, if freedom is to endure in future generations, we must be willing to pay the price, because "freedom is never free." It has cost the lives of thousands of men and women, and many have carried the scars of war through their lifetimes because of their wounds. Every veteran, living or dead, has contributed greatly to the preservation of our freedoms.

Since freedom always comes at a staggering cost, let's commit ourselves to the preservation of those freedoms. They are much too precious to waste or take lightly. As we recognize and express our gratitude to all veterans, let's also take time to thank God for the privilege of being an American.

Love, Jerry & Dotse