The Best Things In Life Aren't Free

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Free truck, come pick it up. 555-5555. This was my Craigslist ad the other day when I was trying to get rid of a junk car from the yard of a home I was rehabbing. I received twenty calls in 35 minutes. The car was gone within two hours. I was floored by the response. Why would so many people want a junk car?

I believe it's because we have become a culture of people wanting something for nothing. We eat terrible food because our kids get a free toy with the meal. We expect our children to get a free education and then complain because they didn't learn much. We expect to remain free, but are we willing to do what it takes to remain so?

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. Many of us will go camping or have a barbecue, without really thinking about why we can do so. Do we stop and reflect on those who sacrificed all so we can be a free people?

Do we think about the Pilgrims who colonized our shores? Are the heroes of the Revolution in our thoughts? Do we reflect on the soldiers of the Civil War who fought to keep our country united? How about the millions who gave their lives in WWI, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and the seemingly endless campaigns of the Middle East? Do we think on those who may not have died in our service but who lived their lives working to keep us free?

Without taking these thoughts to heart we cannot appreciate the immense sacrifice made for us. I always hear people saying how we are so blessed to live in a free country. I agree we are blessed to live here in such prosperity. I worry that we think that this will always be our state. We seem to think that our freedom will be perpetual.

We can only remain free if we jealously guard the freedoms we have and work to become more free. Each and every day we need to spread the message of freedom. We need to become involved in our local governance. The first thing we must do is govern ourselves properly so that the government doesn't need to do it. We need to stop feeling entitled to anything.

The free car I gave away was a piece of junk as are most things we get free in life. The best things are always those which come most dear. This Memorial Day I hope we can reflect on the sacrifice made for us. I hope we can ponder on what our great grandchildren will think of us in their reflections. Will we be remembered as the generation that turned things around? Or will we be remembered as the one who let freedom slip through our hands?

I think we will be great in their eyes, so let's start paying the price now. Freedom is the greatest blessing and it comes at the highest price.