by Joanie Butman
Celebrating Independence Day this year was particularly poignant following the confinement we endured throughout the pandemic. Based on my travels over the last weekend, it was as if someone opened the cages at the zoo and the animals were running wild – in cars! Driving was insane. It didn’t help that I had a queen size bed tied to the roof of my car which required a leisurely pace. I’ve never received so many blaring horns and hand gestures as people sped by. Freedom of expression is one thing, but these people were abusing that freedom – as we all do from time to time.
I wonder if God ever second guesses giving humans free will. We certainly don’t always use it wisely. He must be saddened by how we’ve abused and continue to abuse that privilege over the centuries. Peter Marshall (the Presbyterian minister, not the Hollywood Squares host) states, “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” An excellent truth to remember as the parties and fireworks fade away.
One of my devotions over the weekend astutely pointed out that, “There are limits to our freedom when our behavior impinges on other peoples’ freedom.” Our society is at a pivot point. It may be a good time to ponder what freedom means to us. Yes, you are free to express road rage, but is it right? How you choose to exercise your freedom of expression is a decision we make that contributes to our society in a positive or negative way. It seems to me that the climate in our country leans heavily towards the negative.
Peter Marshall also said, “The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as Americans. The time is come - it is now - when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship.” The freedoms we enjoy in this country came at a price. We honor those who suffered and died fighting for and protecting those freedoms when we choose to exercise them responsibly.
More importantly, our ultimate freedom comes from God. The liberty Christ offers freely came at a great price He was willing to bear on our behalf. Even so, we have to choose to accept His gift. If and when we do, we are transformed in a way that affects the way we interact with others. Road rage may seem trivial, but as we’ve seen in the news so often recently, it is escalating well beyond horns and hand gestures. It doesn’t seem to take much these days to offend someone whether it be slow driving or the age-old favorites: politics and religion. Here’s a unique idea posed by Brant Hansen, we can choose to be unoffendable. That’s countercultural since everyone seems so easily offended these days – like the drivers last weekend who couldn’t just pass me without gesticulating and announcing their displeasure by leaning on the horn. I was driving in the slow lane with my flashers on. What did they expect?
Through God’s amazing grace we can choose hand gestures that shine His light into a dark world. They are the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship in His kingdom.
Praying hands
Praising hands
Clapping hands
Serving hands
Helping hands
Healing hands
Comforting hands
Supporting hands
Gentle hands
Loving hands
Welcoming hands
Choose wisely!
I will leave you with a prayer from the Naples UCC Daily Devotional:
Holy God, you call us to freedom, not as entitlement but in service to your dream of beloved community. You call us to freedom in the service of freedom for all. You call us to freedom that we may be your servants – hands and feet for hope and healing in a world that is broken and frightened. You promise us that your love will surround us, that your grace will be sufficient for us, that your light will go before us, and that Christ will walk with us. As we seek to follow your will and your way, open our hearts and minds to trust your wisdom, to listen for your still small voice of freedom tempered by responsibility. Amen. Reverend Katherine Mulhern