Liberty's Due - It Must be Paid

"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it."  - George Bernard Shaw

A long, long time ago I was in 5th grade (I can already see my children rolling their eyes) and our teacher, Mrs. Jenkins, taught us about the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  She was careful to emphasis though, that that along with those rights came responsibilities. I think that responsibility part is getting lost these days.

We have the responsibility to educate ourselves on the issues facing our states and nations.   We have the responsibility to vote and to demand ethical candidates. We have the responsibility to hold elected officials  accountable and let them hear from us. We have the responsibility to keep government under our control, not the other way around. 

But we can't do it by just sending emails around to each other. That's what we call "Preaching to the choir". We have to spend the time and sign those petitions, contact the Senators, call our representatives, write that letter, and encourage our friends and family to do the same.

I understand. We live in a busy world - jobs, children, financial pressures.  But we've been so busy with our heads down, working hard digging that ditch, that we haven't seen not everyone around us is doing the same. There's a whole lot of people out there resting on their shovels while you and I are digging the ditch.  Then there's a whole other group (not digging either) telling us how deep to dig, how fast to dig, and requiring us to dig with one hand tied behind our back. I understand. We're tired.

But our liberty and Constitution is at stake and like it or not, we have to add one more thing to our "to do" list today. Otherwise, we deserve what we get.