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There is a lot more to freedom than just the desire to do anything we would like (for instance not wearing a mask or not social distancing in public during a pandemic). Individual freedom or privilege of any sort, when it restricts or harms the freedom of others and causes a breakdown of the beloved community we are called to is not the type of true freedom which comes with societal responsibility.

We are free to put ourselves in God’s hands or to find ourselves enslaved by all sorts of other things - our fears, our anger, our guilt, our pride. The type of freedom God gives to us leads to an undying hope, an unbreakable faith - not in our own abilities, but in what God can do through us and in what we can do together. Just like the plants must feel during the heat of the summer, all of us at times feel a little dried up and withered (maybe especially during these days). In order to thrive again we have to feel the nurturing love of God pouring into us and working through us. Like Miracle Grow with plants, accepting the truth learned on a journey of faith does give you what you need to be free to grow in miraculous ways – individually and for our society.

Too often throughout the history of our country we have used our freedom, and even defined “truth” in ways that have restricted the rights of groups of people for a variety of reasons – including the color of their skin, their religious practices or their sexual identity. Let us always be a people who declare our independence from whatever pulls us from God, who declare our independence from every form of oppression we support directly or indirectly, who can be strong in the way we live dependent on God and independent of whatever tyranny rises within our lives, who respond to the freedom we enjoy by remembering it is not all about us but about the possibility that freedom gives us to make a difference in the lives of others – close to home and around the world.

Grace and Peace,

Herb

Pastor

p.s. Remember livestream Sunday worship is at 10am during the summer – of course you can watch or watch again any time!