July:  the month for celebrating independence.  A couple of days ago, July 1, Canada celebrated its Independence Day.  On this day in 1867, Canada officially became independent of the British crown (though still a member of the British Commonwealth), free to pursue its own destiny.  It's cause for much rejoicing.

    With good reason.  As tomorrow I think about America's independence day, I trust that all of us realize anew that freedom is an enormously precious thing.  For as countless people who have lived through times of dictatorship can attest, little do we grasp the extent of our freedom until we no longer have it.

     A number of years ago, I happened to be in Canada on July 1.  It was a day of great celebration, a day off from work, picnics and gatherings, and, at night, fireworks.

    We all celebrate our freedom in different ways.  At the core of it all, however, is our corporate and often unvoiced understanding and conviction that humanness is meeting the challenge of being choice making beings in a world over which we have little control.  We're free, yes, but we're not free to be free.