Freedom is hard to acquire or retain, but easy to lose. Freedom is certainly not free. As an 87-year-old, I can testify that our freedom was bought for us through blood, sweat, tears and prayers of many men and women in the past.
Our Constitution solemnly tells us to preserve freedom for ourselves and our posterity. As Thomas Paine said in Revolutionary War days, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, as others before us, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. This is necessary because God grants freedom only to those who love it and are ready to guard and defend it.”
Our Declaration of Independence tells us that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I pray to God that we Americans will never forget these charges, and some day we will once again be “One nation, under God.”
Lee Powers
Vancouver
