There is freedom, and there is freedom.  One day, while talking to a group of his opponents, Jesus remarked, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). 

    What did Jesus mean?  We all desire personal freedom, yes, and we all deserve to know truth.  Both are within our grasp as human beings.  

    Genuine freedom, however, is more than either one.  Genuine freedom is understanding why we can even entertain the idea of freedom at all, why we are beings who are capable of comprehending such a thing.  Genuine freedom is knowing why we are here, why we are how we are, and why one day we will no longer be around.  And these are questions that, finite and limited that we are, we will never understand on our own.  How can we?

    Be it July 1, July 4, July 14, or any other day of independence around the planet, we do well to remember that although we're free to be free, we are not free to be free to be free.

    It's a fragile thing, freedom:  treasure it as nothing else.  It's a gift we cannot give to ourselves.