Freedom, Religion and Life

     My family has just returned from a long and enjoyable vacation.  We traveled for 9 days to our nation's capitol.  I have always wanted to see the monuments that have been created to commemorate the lives and ideas that helped found what I consider to be the greatest country every known.  In the months leading up to this trip, there has been more and more news about the current representatives who are leading this country who seem to be unaware of the ideals upon which our country began.  We began an effort to let people live by their own choices....liberty.   Of course we have to come together to combat evil and selfish intentions for the protection of that liberty, but to the greatest extent possible, people should be able to live in a way that they choose.
     The founding fathers' greatest achievement was a constitution that took into account the basic nature of mankind toward selfishness and greed and set protections to keep most of that from finding its way into the government.  They did not trust that one person could decide what another person should do and then force them to do it.  They learned that lesson from their lives under the British monarchy of the time.  The operating  procedures they put into place were there to help in certain areas where common problems arose in a free society.  They did not decide to create a constitution where everything that people should do is spelled out for them, nor did they want to cause people to give up their own convictions.  One lifestyle does not fit all.  There are a few things, however that we must not eliminate,  certain "inalienable" rights....life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They understood that God gave us certain standards that we should live by and that people could operate in a huge number of ways within that framework.
     Knowing that religion is a personal matter and that it also affects the working together of a group, they made special considerations for it as a "problem area."  Congress should not force anyone to participate in a religion.  (Religion is a personal decision.)  Congress should not hinder people from practicing their religion. (By hindering religious practice, you are actually forcing an opposite religious practice.)  Religion is on its own and is an area where a wide and patient consideration for others is to be given.
     There do arrive in our country's history times when we must address inconsistencies in the way our liberty and our interactions with others conflict.  It arose over the question of slavery.  It has arisen over the question of abortion.  It will continue to come up as our country continues to work out the details of what is right and wrong.  It seems that the question of slavery today is clearly understood.  It is wrong to take away someone else's liberty.  It is an inalienable right from God.   I also believe it is wrong to take away someone's life.  It is an inalienable right from God.  In the 1860's some people said there is nothing wrong with slavery because those in slavery were not really people.  We know today that that is incorrect.  Today, some people say that there is nothing wrong with abortion because those being aborted are not really people.  Don't we know that that is also incorrect?   In the 1860's some people said that freeing slaves would be taking away the rights of slaveholders.   Today some people say that outlawing abortion would be taking away the rights of pregnant women.   Did slaveholders actually have the right to take ownership of someone else's life?  Do pregnant women actually have the right to take ownership of another life?  What will it take before we face this issue in a logical and moral way?   It's time to not be hypocritical to our agreed-upon way of life.  I don't think we see slavery today as a "religious" issue.   I don't think we have to only see abortion that way either.  This is a matter of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  These are the truths that we hold to be self-evident.  It is time to once again restore freedom by restoring life.

....but now I'm Found

     With the coming of the winter thaw, I have begun a new way to get out and get a little exercise as well as feed my curiosity about history.  I got a metal detector about a year ago and am finally using it to find things.  Most of my use has been in my own yard and nearby, but I have enjoyed seeing what lies just under our feet.  To see some of my adventures, follow the link at the bottom of the page and watch a couple of videos of the fun I have been having.
     People have asked me what the fun is in walking around and digging up broken and forgotten relics of the past.  I can't say that I have always had a good answer, but I know that I get excited whenever I find something interesting.  I guess it has to do with the knowledge that at one time, each item was created for a purpose in someone's life and I begin to ask myself what happened.  Did it just outlive its usefulness and was discarded?  Was it lost and never used for its intended purpose?  Did someone drop it and look for it and did they grieve over not being able to find it?
     I also wonder about the people and the life they lived in a previous era.  What would it mean to them to lose a dime?  Probably a lot more than it does today.  Whose picture was once in the broken locket I found?
Did a soldier lose this stirrup on his way back to the family farm after a battle and decide to hurry on without picking it up?  What small child lost the toy cap gun decades ago and was it something that they had treasured as a Christmas present?   Why were three spent bullet cartridges from three different caliber guns found stuck together by a blob of engine grease around the year 1900?  What in the world could have been going on?
     I guess my curious nature has taken over.   Lately, I have found a lot of coins from different time periods. I have been hoping to find very old coins, but other than a 1918 wheat penny, I have found coins newer than 1965.  They are the kind that are still used today.  I have been cleaning them up a little and plan to save them up to buy an even better metal detector in the future.
     It has made me think.  Those coins began with a certain value attached to them.  They were probably used to purchase things that helped individuals and families have a better life.  They had a purpose and a worth.  At some point in time, they were lost and taken out of circulation.  Time began to bury them and soon no one even knew that they existed any more.  Their ability to fulfill their purpose was gone.  They still had the same value and could be used again, but were separated from a useful life by inches of dirt.  They needed help.  They needed someone to come along and detect them, dig them up, clean them off and restore them to their place of purpose.
     Jesus has done that for so many people.  There are people who have begun with a purpose and value and over time have found themselves lost and buried.  They have found themselves separated from the purpose they were created for and stuck in the mud and doomed to the darkness of the earth.  Jesus came and they reached out to Him.  He dragged them out of the darkness and restored them to their original purpose again. He removed the effects of years of degradation and put them back into circulation again.  He redeemed them from the darkness.  That is the reason I named my youtube channel "redeeming316."  I wanted to remind people that Jesus is the only one who can redeem your soul and restore you to his purpose.
     John 3:16--- For God so loved the world, that he gave him only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

Redeeming316 Videos
  http://www.youtube.com/user/redeeming316