Happy Canada Day!!!
One of the big things we celebrate as Canadians is our free and democratic society. This freedom is a gift that many people throughout the world don’t have. What we don’t think about are the boundaries that may be associated with this freedom, and the responsibilities we carry as citizens to give back to the families and communities we live in.
Unbridled freedom might feel great for me, but sometimes those around me may be a little less than impressed. We carry a responsibility both to ourselves and those around us to live in a manner that gives back. This responsibility is actually a gift. In chatting about this subject with one of my sons, he used the phrase; “We are given one to another. We are given to community.” This gift of responsibility is not a drudgery as may often be associated with the word, but is actually something beautiful where we are given to the natural spaces and resources around us. These are to be stewarded, knowing that they were here before us, and need to be handed to the generations coming after us.
Being mindful of how much it means to live in such a place will hopefully enable us to understand better how best to live toward those around us. Hopefully we can use our freedom not as an expression of selfish gratification, but that we are free to: steward our health, care for the vulnerable, uphold justice, and steward our resources.
I trust that as you celebrate Canada Day, you can reflect on what it means to be a Canadian, knowing the rich and diverse cultural heritage we carry, and how we can live and work together to build a prosperous future for our children’s children.
From my family to yours,
Lowell Harder
