While traveling in the West recently, I came upon, in a thrift shop, a book about Glenn Exum.  Who was he?  Exum was one of the early climbers in Wyoming's Grand Teton mountain range and made a number of first route ascents on its peaks.  He also founded, with Paul Petzoldt (who in turn founded a company that manufactures headlamps and rock climbing equipment), the leading climbing school in the Tetons.

     The book's introduction was written by Yvon Chouinard who, some readers may know, founded the iconic and hugely successful outdoor clothing company Patagonia.  In the introduction, Chouinard identifies Exum with a quote of famous French adventurer Antoine de Saint-Exupery.  Saint Exupery's observation is that, "With freedom comes an acceptance of responsibility."

     Not that any number of other people haven't made similar observations, but reading it in a book about Exum made me think about the idea of freedom in today's world.  We love being free, don't we?  We love being able to make decisions and choices, we love the opportunity to plan our future unhindered by any outside force.  Unfortunately, as we all know, too many people in this vast planet do not experience this degree of freedom.  Day after day, and year after year, they labor under oppressive economic and political systems, toiling their entire lives in the darkness of bondage.  It's tragic--and not what God wants for his human creation.

     For those of us who enjoy being "free" (and this is a loaded and ambiguous term), however, we have the greater responsibility.  We are called to use our freedom with wisdom and care, to use it not to seek our own aggrandizement, but to pursue the greater good of all.  Ours is the far more weighty calling, the far heavier onus.

     But what better way to live our lives?