This Time Of the Year

For countless students, this time of the year signals vacation or near-vacation from school. Many of these students look forward to graduations. This time of year is normally an exciting time of the year for so many students and a time to celebrate. Many teachers, educators and other staff members may welcome this time of the year, depending on their circumstances.

For countless workers, unless they are among those who have to work holidays, this is a time of the year to take off, to escape that "old grind" for a few days and to get together with families and/or friends. Often, they use this time to mark this time of the year with barbeques, parties, social and family get-togethers and other festive occasions. They celebrate.

For so many businesses and retail stores, this time of year marks a choice time to cash in, putting up holiday sales and bring in more cash flow. They "lick their chops" at this time of the year, with the $$$ in front of their eyes. For many customers with $$$ to spend, this is a time to take advantage of shopping sprees and getting deals. What an opportunity this time of this year is for these parties!

For countless parents who are raising children, this time of the year marks having their children at home much, often much more. (Yes, many do send their children to summer camp or other such activities). Or soon that will happen as school gets out for the school year. Many parents may honestly not be excited about this, depending on their circumstances.

For countless active military, veterans, and for the families of soldiers and veterans, this time of the year is set aside the focus on remembering the fact that the price of freedom is not free. As the saying goes, about veterans: "All gave some, but some gave all." This time of the year is, of course, very special and meaningful for all of those in the world of the military. It is THEIR time. I know that many others, like law enforcement, firefighters and others identified as heroes who have "served their country" also see special meaning for themselves at this time of year.

For many children from low-income families, who face hunger and whose main source of nourishment comes from reduced-cost or free lunches, this time of the year heralds when they will be out of school (or out already) and face more hunger. The end of the school year often cuts them off from any source of regular nourishment. They are their families may not celebrate or look forward to this time of year.

For many low-income families and individuals, this time of the year marks more of what is called "food insecurity" as this weekend marks the beginning of summer. And summer means that food pantries and many nonprofits that these low-income parties count on just to survive, get fewer donations because more $$$ are spent on vacations and summer events. Also, so many of these parties cannot afford the festivities of this holiday. It is often just another day.

For countless individuals who are unemployed or whose life circumstances force them to use benefits, this time of the year marks just another weekend. It is merely a reminder that others are gainfully employed and that others do not have to use benefits and have "normal lives." With their fixed incomes or uncertain resources, they cannot afford holiday festivities. What is all the fuss about? they may be thinking.

For so many people who have, especially in these past 12 months, lost a loved one to any natural or unnatural cause, this time of the year is bittersweet. They may mark it with festivities but their celebrations will be hampered by an empty chair around their tables and the first Memorial Day without their loved ones. For those who have lost a loved one to murder, suicide, disappearances, or other unnatural causes at any time, it is usually much worse.

For those who exist on the fringes of society, like the homeless and others who do not venture out in society because of being in settings like hospitals, nursing homes, mental wards, the like, and certainly prison, this time of the year is often just another day. With their often stretched-out sense of time or alternate or no routines, they may not be aware of it or hardly so. They are in no position to observe it.

So whatever this Memorial Day weekend means to you, my best wishes to all on this weekend. If you can, be safe and enjoy it. If you know a veteran, thank him or her. If you who are reading this are a veteran, I thank you.

Freedom is Not Free!

     We so often talk about things being free to acess or free to do. And often these "freebies" are viewed as cheap or we forget, or don't realize, who has or is paying for them and that there are rules surrounding everything, including those things that are called free. When something is free to us, it is because someone else has paid for it. When we are said to be free to do something, or say something, there are always rules attached to this freedom, even when those rules are unspoken rules. And so therefore, what is free is not cheap.
     In the free world, where we are blessed with political and religious liberties, we often love to say, "This is a free country and we can do what we want, go where we want to go and say what we want to say, as long as no one else gets hurt." Yes. As my late stepdad would say, "I think we have too much freedom. that may be our trouble in this society." Could he have had a point?" Yes, I think so! The fact is, in many free societites we are free to do things that are legal but not necessarily moral or helpful; such things are said to not "hurt people" and are supposed to be "no one's business." There is the matter of marital infidelity, having "love affairs" and romantic relationships outside of one's marriage. For many years, far too many popular songs have "celebrated" the "joys of forbidden fruit" and have lamented the "oppressiveness" of society's unspoken rules, and God's Law, that denounce such behavior and say that it is wrong. I have seen, over and over, the stark consequences for people who take such liberties with their marriages; and taking such liberties contributes to so many missing/murdered adults! Marital unfaithfulness will hurt the partners deeply and shatter all trut and respect, even when they may try to still save their marriage. It is very wrong for popular music and other media to condone, much less celebrate, behavior that causes so much "hidden damage." Then there is abortion, which has been legal for years and is often considered a right where "no one will get hurt." Really? Even if we don't factor in the obvious, what it does to the baby in utero, what about the others in that victim's life? Even when the girls and women who have had abortions suppress/repress their abortions, they are forces to suffer in silence because society does not count the loss of a child by abortion as a loss, but as a "choice." These girls and women are forbidden to grieve and to work through their traumas, except by maligned "prolife pregnancy resource centers." Then there are the possible physical side effects of abortions, which include the risks of not being able to conceive wanted future children, miscarriages, disrupted menstrual cycles, and worse. Birth dads who learn about having fathered babies that were aborted without their consent, often feel intensely betrayed and violated. Society is cheated of the future contributions of a person who was not allowed to live. I did not mention the obvious harm that it does to the unborn because that is another discussion which could fill a book; I want to show how even socially acceptable things are not always best or helpful to any of us.
     This freedom of choice, the freedom to choose which so often has become too much freedom, come with the responsibilities to choose what is right, what is best and what is helpful. Freedom is not license. And the only reason we have these freedoms, even to excess, is because many others have paid for them. We are aware of this and that is why this Memorial Day weekend has been set aside to focus on and remember this: That it is past and present military veterans and active troops, who have paid for these freedoms, and often with their lives, whether in their wars or "at home." As one post I saw the other day put it, "Some gave all, but all gave some."
     As far as freedom of choice goes, there is the matter of free speech. But how free is free speech and how free should it be? Does it mean the freedom to influence or engage our governments to act on our behalf, as I am doing in my current petition drive? Does free speech mean saying controversial or even offensive things (as I'm doing in using the word abortion)? Does it mean saying anything we want to say? I think most of us believe that freedom of speech should stop where the rights and feelings of other start. Verbal abuse, whether online or in person, is crossing the line that goes beyond free speech. I have already written a post on this topic of free speech but I have experienced incidents since then, which apply to this. In the earliest stages of my petition campaign, I have have sought the support of a person whose has two autism-centered blogspots, and whom I have supported. I contacted this person by email and Facebook but never received any reply. Discouraged by the slow growth in gathering signatues for my petition and craving outside support, I posted multiple appeals, over the following days, for others to contact this person concerning my petition and I included the person's two published email addresses. This backfired! Apparently some other person mentioned my posts when contacting this person. This person finally relied to my email appealing to her for support, without any response to my appeal; this person clearly was angry with me, demanding that I promptly delete all my appeals to others to contact her or be reported. I tried to follow orders but this person kept sending angry emails until she was satisfied that I had everything removed. This person has disabled me from contacting her and has told me, "I do not want to hear from you again." In this person's eyes, I had definitely crossed the line that went beyond freedom of speech, harassing her and violating her privacy (even though her email addresses are published). So even if we take liberties to do what we think are okay but others do not see it as okay, as was the case with this person, our words will have consequences. In this case, I made an enemy. Much earlier, when I was new to Facebook, I took liberties to post about two missing children and posted their information and flyers on another user's Facebook Wall. This user promptly sent me a message, telling me that she was displeased with my violation of her privacy and the "imposing of my agenda and my cases" on her. We kept sending each other angry messages back and forth that were defensive; by the end of the day I found that this user had blocked me totally where I could not contact her at all. In this person's eyes, I had gone far from freedom of speech to harassment and invasion of her privacy. My online posts on her page had consequences, that of making an enemy. Even when we exercise freedom of speech, others often will see it as something else and they may, as in my case, react against us. Nothing is totally free.
     And this freedom of speech, which is the foundation of all our political and religious freedoms, is only free to us because others have paid for it. That is, past and present veterans and active military troops, have paid for all of this, often with their lives. And this freedom of speech comes with responsibilities, meaning what is free is not cheap. So let us use Memorial Day to not only commemorate our heroes but also to think about what freedom really is, that it comes with responsibilities, that its abuse can have serious consequences and that it is not free.