Each year, I embark on an epic trip with my wife and our four children, immersing ourselves in the rich history of our nation and even the world. This year, our focus has been the American Revolution. From Virginia to Washington DC, Philadelphia to New York, we have been tracing the roots of our nation's independence. Our journey has even taken us to Boston, Quebec, and Montreal, where some of the seeds of General Washington's military prowess began. All these historical events and the people who led them epitomize the courage and resolve it took for a colony to defy tyranny and achieve self-determined freedom.
As we celebrated Juneteenth, we recognized the importance of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation finally being enforced in Texas and, more broadly, the freeing of slaves across the United States. A week and a half from now, we will launch fireworks and hear a roaring symphony in our parks to celebrate Independence Day.
Freedom and independence are, in my opinion, the highest calling of the human heart.
Today, we are faced with constant attempts to deprive us of our God-given freedom and independence—some imposed by others, and some self-inflicted.
Our courage to march towards freedom and independence must be reinforced each day. We often fall into the trap of enslaving ourselves and others through economic coercion, poor relational choices, destructive habits, societal pressures, misinformation, and self-doubt, among numerous other ways. We are called to love our neighbor, and this includes working towards their freedom and independence as well as our own.
In Yukon, this means working together to build a city that encourages all residents to flourish, prevents economic entanglements, enacts justice, and delivers community services that strengthen each of our neighbors.
What are you striving for freedom from? How can we, your neighbors, help?