In this country we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th and it is the remembrance of our liberation from the tyranny of King George III and the religious controversies of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The brave patriots shouted “Give me liberty or give me death!”(Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.) Change was coming, and the patriots were willing to lay down their life for freedom. Some years later, Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to "America" My country, 'tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty, of Thee I sing” with the words put to the melody of oh yes, God save the King! (1831 while a student at Andover Theological Seminary.) For me, when I hear it sung, it still causes chills to run up my spine!
I would say that I am an American by birth but my bloodline is as colorful as the fireworks we see cast into the sky on this holiday! But this country is all I know because I have only briefly visited elsewhere and my family has been here for generations. I would also say that I have become dependent on my freedoms!! One of those freedoms is the right to practice my religion. And of course you can as well, whatever that may be within the constraints of our legal system.
But in Christianity, our Father in His wisdom has given each and every one of us the liberty to choose to follow Christ, or be addicted to sin. And the Apostle Paul is speaking about that to us today in Romans: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”(Romans 6:20-21) For some folks, that is true freedom but Saint Athanasios said, "if you choose yourself you are choosing nothing, because that is what you are without God" To be able to do what feels good at the time or satisfies our thirst for a brief second and not care what the Judge will say when we are called to account for all of our foolishness and all of our selfishness and our denial of His Love. And the Apostle further reminds us of that as well: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Rom. 6:23]
I have chosen to be independently dependant!! But it is a slow process, as it seems I am tad hard-headed! But with each new day and each new circumstance, I have to remember to serve Him as I struggle so that I can too also one day be a great patriot riding the mighty spirited steed of Orthodoxy and shouting as our very existence depends on it, Give me Liberty, or give me Death!
The great invader is here and entrenched! But I seek freedom from the heavy chains of sin and death to the selfish world. I seek an eternal life where the uncreated light will be visible to me. (Life After Death, p. 191-192) Or as Saint Symeon states it:”God is fire…this flame at first purifies us from the pollution of passions and then it becomes in us food and drink and light and joy, and renders us light ourselves because we participate in His light (Saint Symeon the New Theologian - Discourse 78). Saint Isaac the Syrian said that:”It is totally false to think that the sinners in Hell are deprived of God’s love. Love is a child of the knowledge of truth, and is unquestionably given commonly to all. But love’s power acts in two ways: it torments sinners, while at the same time it delights those who have lived in accord with it” (Saint Isaac the Syrian, Homily 84).
When we choose sin, we sin against love. For my brothers and sisters here and abroad who daily struggle against the sugary addiction of sins, Happy Dependence Day!! Without struggle, there is no change. May we one day see the joy from above consume us into His abounding love!
Fr. Gabriel Weller 7-6-25
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