I don’t want to be tied down to someone – I want to be set free with someone. –Author unknown

The 4th of July is when Americans across this great nation celebrate independence from those pesky Brits. Our founding fathers were tired of religious persecution and moral overreach, and envisioned a place where there was a separation of church and state. A land without the false dichotomy of aristocracy and commoner. And in spite of our country’s history of violence and oppression, our current inhumane policies, politically legalized culture of greed, and more, I believe we here in the U.S. live in an amazing time in an amazing place. I hold these tensions in check – the criticism and the gratitude. I’m an immigrant who became a naturalized citizen who was afforded opportunities to work hard and earn a world-class education, and now lives an incredibly blessed life in America’s Finest City. Freedom is something I hold dear to my heart and yet take for granted on most days.

Freedom is also in the eye of the beholder. Two years ago, Independence week took on an entirely new significance for me as it was the week my divorce was finalized. I had been experiencing a beautiful sense of inner peace and freedom in the months leading up to that week, entirely grateful that I was being saved from a life where I was neither chosen nor cherished.

And since then, I’ve discovered a new freedom in my faith. The consciousness that I am free from sin, free from shame, free from guilt, free from doubt. Jesus is walking beside me (and you) everyday inviting us to live in this freedom like he did with Jairus’ daughter. The story in Mark 5 says that Jesus called out to the sick girl – who by all accounts was already dead – and said, “Talitha cumi! Little girl, I say to you, ‘arise.'”

And this message applies to us in the here and now. In our brokenness, with our bruises and scars, we sometimes need the reminder to stand up and walk. That freedom is sometimes more about a state of mind than a description of circumstance.

I feel like shouting, “Let freedom ring,” to everyone who needs to hear it. To every precious soul who for a second believes the lie that he or she is not enough, or not worthy, or has no purpose. To my friends who struggle with addiction, and anxiety, and loneliness. The truth is that we are entirely precious, counted as more than worthy, and created with a beautiful purpose. We are destined to live with a full measure of grace, abundance, and joy so that we can love ourselves without apology and love others well.

So this 4th of July, I hope you feel this same sense of thanksgiving. That you can hold the tensions of this life in check. And that you take up the invocation of talitha cumi: Arise, walk, and let freedom ring!

[Photo: Downtown San Diego fireworks taken from my friends’ balcony on July 4, 2016]