The Blessing of Freedom – Sunday, August 07, 1983
People arriving in the New York harbor by sea are greeted by the majestic Statue of Liberty, her torch raised high in a symbolic salute to freedom. Millions more have visited that national monument to be reminded of the freedom of these United States and the love we have for it.
When Americans say we love our country, we mean not only the beauty of its hills, prairies, mountains and seas, but the love of an inner light in which freedom lives and in which an individual can draw the breath of self-respect.
Living in America is a blessing worth thinking about frequently, not just during the national holidays set aside for that purpose. It is a privilege many people throughout the world would be honored to share. This is the only nation on earth deliberately created not on the basis of geography, but in behalf of an idea. And the idea was liberty, the right to be free. Our Declaration of Independence proclaims it. The Constitution was written to guarantee it. Curiously, few Americans now recall that original purpose, and that means our liberty is too often taken for granted.
The fiber of our nation is strong, but the lessons of history should teach us that freedom is the most easily lost of man’s possessions, that apathy is our greatest problem. No nation can endure without the support, dedication and enthusiasm of its people.
We can fight apathy by remembering the blessings and privileges that come with citizenship, by expressing them openly, and by helping our children understand and appreciate these blessings. We should also have a spirit of godliness, for God and church have always been at the center of activity in America, tying family, community and nation together.
Ultimately, nations are only as strong as their ideas. And when a nation no longer represents an idea, its future is in doubt. Many citizens of the United States have affluence and prosperity, but there is a tendency to attribute those conditions solely to personal achievement. That attitude can produce a dangerous pride, a hardness of heart, a false sense of self-sufficiency. Do we really have a right to take our comfort, prosperity and security for granted when so much of the world lives with anguish, poverty and fear? No!
The torch of freedom—albeit in need of repair—is held high by the Statue of Liberty.
Our task is to keep the torch always burning to symbolically illuminate that stirring inscription at the base of the statue: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door”.
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August 07, 1983
Broadcast Number 2,816