Let Freedom Ring

My favorite patriotic song is "America the Beautiful."  It is a sure-fire tear-jerker for me every time I sing or hear it. But yesterday we also sang "My Country 'Tis of Three" and the end of the third stanza hit me profoundly:

Let mortal tongues awake; 

Let all the breathe partake; 

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

The idea of freedom awaking mortal tongues and breaking the silence of rocks is powerful. Under our Constitution, Americans have the freedom to worship as we see fit, to speak our minds as we wish, to enjoy privacy in our home lives, to vote our conscience, to receive due process, to never be owned by another human being. It is a privilege to live in a place where these are our basic human rights, the things we expect from our birth. 

On this Independence Day, may mortal tongues awake, and may we use our freedoms to bear light into the dark corners of the world.  To whom much is given, much will be required.