Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Free


I was feeling extra patriotic yesterday evening. After we got home from the cabin and scarfed down some quick dinner, Ryan hitched up the trailer and we loaded up the kids in the back. I drove slowly through Harris Park while Ryan and the kids and one of his scouts took turns jumping in and out, collecting all the flags posted earlier that morning by the scouts.

As we went up and down every street, I couldn't help but feel grateful. Flags were proudly waving from the yards of so many of our neighbors. I felt instant gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy. Sure, it's frustrating - maddening in fact - thinking about the state of our government, the corruptness in politics, and the ills of our society at large. Sometimes I feel like I have to shut out the news and the talk radio just to stay sane. Yet I'm pretty sure that still, despite these serious imperfections in our government, there's still no other place I'd rather live.

I'm free to travel. Free to worship. Free to bear children - however many I want, free to speak, free to work, free to learn.

Last night as I funneled the kids through the shower factory, Ryan got a phone call from an old mission companion. He served his mission in the Philippines from Jan 1991 - Jan 1993, so it's been a long time since he's been back. This particular companion is a Phillipino, never married, and has been working in Saudi Arabia for the past 11 years. He found Ryan on Facebook a few months back and they have reconnected a bit since then. His former mission companion was in the States visiting family and another mission companion in Utah. He called last night to visit with Ryan and to let him know that he was engaged to be married.

As Ryan recounted their conversation to me, my gratitude for the freedoms I enjoy and the country in which I live soared. His companion said that his mother finally gave permission for him to marry, at age 38, which apparently is a cultural custom. His fiance was his childhood sweetheart, and he sees her only a couple of times each year when he returns from work in Saudi Arabia to visit his family in the Philippines. They all live in relative poverty. After they marry, spend a couple of days honeymooning and then having a reception, he will return to live and work in Saudi Arabia and she will stay in the Philippines. While they both have jobs and neither can afford to let them go, the main reason that she will not accompany her new husband to live with him is that in Saudi Arabia, women are seriously oppressed. According to Ryan's friend, they cannot even go out to the store unaccompanied and they have no societal rights.

While I realize that at one point in our society the rights of certain races and of women in particular were also severely disadvantaged, and that cultures and traditions vary vastly across the globe, it is difficult for me to imagine living in such a time or place where I couldn't be as free as I am today. I've been thinking a lot about 9/11 too and what has happened in our world since the Twin Towers toppled. So much, it seems, has changed, and really not too much of it for good in my very humble opinion. The war and the shifts in political leadership have divided our great nation. Too many are living on the dole and much our society holds fast to the absurd notion that the world owes them something.

And yet...even with all of this...

I am still grateful to live in America. I am grateful that we can (and do) fly our flag. I am thankful for the right to vote and let my small voice be heard. I'm proud to be free and grateful for my agency and my life.

2 comments:

  1. Well said Kelli. We get so excited to see our flag flying on holidays. I love America!

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  2. DITTO..."Well said" Kelli and Karrie!!!
    GOD BLESS AMERICA, We sure need His help!!!

    ReplyDelete