"Let us make the choice for TRUE FREEDOM, not just being free, being free to love, help and serve others."
FREEDOM, JULY 4TH, 2016
by Reverend E. Ann Otzelberger, NST
When we look around us it is clear that many Americans do enjoy their Freedom. The lines of people waiting to see the Liberty Bell or the Independence Hall tells us many are interested in Freedom and how it was obtained by Americans.
Ever since we tore ourselves away from English rule, we have prized our freedom. We claim it as an inalienable right. We protect our freedom by laws and we die for it in war. Nations may suppress freedom, but they will never dismiss it from the human spirit.
For more than 200 years, we Americans have enjoyed the privilege of freedom. Freedom is like a beautifully woven fabric, without a border that binds it together, it soon unravels and loses it value. A society with no moral borders dooms those people to destroying any sense of personal worth.
True freedom is not the right to live without restraints. It is the right to live according to truth. Only when we value truth will we find the freedom we value.
The truth about others, that they have worth and value, sets me free to care for them and love them. If, on the other hand, I demand the "freedom" to use people for my own purposes, I will ultimately realize the truth of Natural Law and I will find myself alienating everyone and be alone. My understanding of Natural Law keeps me free from envy, greed, guilt, worry, fear, and anxiety.
True freedom is not just being free. It is being free to love, help and serve others. It is the joy of being free from ignorance. Freedom grows from a commitment to truth. All the flags and fireworks would become empty symbols if we lose sight of the real joy of being free and understanding the truth about our lives and lose sight of what we should work for in our lives.
Our great country was put together, fought for and saved by men who sought the truth, and the right of each one to recognize in ourselvs the limitless powers that we have to further ourselves and our country.
We in America have so much more than physical or social freedom, we are Spiritually free. We are free in the truest sense, we are free in our lives to be spiritually as we see we should be. As we look within ourselves and know this and recognize what we need to do to understand the truth and how we should live to better understand the world here and hereafter.
Greatness is an inner quality. It is found in what we are, not in what we have. Greatness is a quality of the heart, mind, and soul. We must resolve to serve our fellow citizens in humility. Concern for othersis a quality that makes a nation great.
We should rexolve to be totally honest and courageous, in the things that we do.
Humility, courage, integrity and honesty are the things that make a nation great. Old fashioned concern for others is a quality tht makes a nation great. We see the greatness of those around us when an emergency comes up and all the people find it in them to do acts of a hero.
We ask Infinite Intelligence for guidance that will enable us to develop strength of character. We want to be tolerant, and kind. We must be honest and generous with our fellow man. We want to attain true success by the development of soul qualities.
We need, as never before a consciousness of an inward peace, for peace must come from within. Peace, poise and power are within us, know within yourself that peace and plenty are established in your inner world and then you can bring them into visibility in your outer world.
Each part of us must be created within us and by us. We must have something to give before we can share with others.
We have individual freedom of choice so we may make of our lives what we choose. We must remember that choice has been given to all our brother and everyone.
We must in no way strive to inhibit our brother's freedom lest he retaliate by limiting ours. We have found an avenue of endeavor that seems right to us but we must not try to force our fellow men to follow our pathway. neither shall we condemn the pathway chosen by him.
As we come into our own harmony, and realize that we create our own heaven and hell, we also realize that we will dictate our own punishment for error. By our own thoughts and deeds, we set these laws into motion and it brings to us the results we have created in our own mind. We have decreed our own punishment and the moment we have set the law into motion that punishment begins.
Through the action of Natural Law, we have learned that the world gives us nothing unless we pay for it and that we get out of life just what we put into it, no more no less.
In accepting truth we also accept personal responsibility and that each of these trials we have, in some way brought upon ourselves. Personally responsibility. So we ask, not for easier tasks but for greater strength so we may bear our burdens with poise and patince, thus making them stepping stones to a more abundant way of life.
Because nature acts without confusion, and we are part of nature, our life must be orderly and well planned to be harmonious. We shall learn to work with these laws and not against them.
We must not ask for gifts and then doubt we shall receive them. We must not consciously set a law into motion and doubt the results. Experience has taught us that the Law of Cause and Effect, as all laws, is immutable and if we set certain causes into motion, the effect is inevitable. if we do not retard its action by doubt. In order to bring into our life the things we desire, we must understand that the part of God within us is the power to accomplish all that we desire , all we need to do is look within.
When we suffer the loss of those we love, especially in an unconstructive way, we will come to understand and to love all people. At times it is difficult.
God be with us in our search for truth, love, peace and happiness. Celebrate this day, the 4th of July, 2016 with honor and love. This is how it should be.