Freedom Day!

Happy Freedom Day! Isn’t that a nicer way to think of it than a date on the calendar marked by fireworks and parades?

Freedom seems like a simple concept. But it’s not simple at all.

In the U.S., Independence Day (usually called simply “July 4th”) represents freedom from British colonial rule. That’s simple enough. But when you consider the other “to’s” and “from’s,” the word becomes multi-dimensional. Freedom to what? Freedom from what? And in any society, whose freedom takes priority? I’m grateful we live in a time when the debate has advanced. Slavery was once defended as necessary to protect the economic freedom of the upper classes. Now we celebrate the end of slavery in a new holiday (Juneteenth), which recognizes every human’s right to be literally and physically free…that is, free from ownership by others.

In my small-town northern home, the term “freedom” usually refers to individual freedom — freedom to do what you want and freedom from interference by others. In my eastern urban home, it just as often refers to a collective freedom…a kind of level playing ground. Remember the Pledge of Allegiance?” It ends “with freedom and justice for all.” Not just for me, but for all.

I often see signs declaring that freedom is not free. It usually refers to the need for some to die in its defense. As a military veteran myself, I respect and share that sentiment. But freedom of all kinds usually comes at a price doesn’t it? It’s worth considering who pays that price and how. Sometimes it’s ourselves. Sometimes it’s others.

Call it July 4th or Independence Day, it doesn’t matter, as long as we give a thought to what it really means. Freedom. With all its promise, gifts and complications. Photos and captions follow of my “Freedom Day 2023” in small towns and waterfronts of far-north Michigan.