USA: FAITH AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA: CHANCE OR DIVINE PROVIDENCE

[Pdesousa3@cs.com]

Dear Friends:

The subject article by Lawrence Grayson, is taken from the Cardinal Patrick A. O'Boyle Assembly, No. 386, Fourth Degree News -- April 2004 issue. This ceremonial degree of the Knights of Columbus, was first started on February 22, 1900, and represents patriotism.

Will follow this up later with an interesting sequel -- remarks from one of the speakers -- at the March 14, 2004, Fourth Degree Exemplification.

God Bless:

Pat de Sousa
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FAITH AND LIBERTY IN AMERICA:  CHANCE OR DIVINE PROVIDENCE
By Lawrence Grayson,
PGK, Faithful Navigator

   ~  On August 29, 1776, the fledgling American Army was trapped on Long Island 
       as an overwhelming British force closed in. General Washington decided to 
       ferry his troops across the East River to Manhattan, but had far fewer boats 
       than necessary to affect the nighttime move. The British could have trapped  
       most of his army with the coming of dawn. A dense fog, however, settled in 
       that morning, and by the time it lifted the Americans had escaped.

  ~   In September 1862, Robert E. Lee divided his Army into four parts for a 
       campaign into Maryland. He planned on reuniting his forces before 
       encountering the Union Army. One of the recipients of Lee's Special Order
       191, giving his plans, used the paper to wrap up three cigars, and the 
       package was lost. Discovered by a Union corporal, it gave the Union an
       edge to defeat Lee at Antietam, a battle which many historians consider 
       the turning point of the Civil War.

  ~   On the morning of September 11, 2001, two brothers who worked on an 
       upper floor of one of the Twin Towers in New York City decided to stop on
       their way to work to arrange for passports for a planned trip to Medjugorje.
       They were not in the building when the planes struck.

       Are these chance events, or did God create circumstances that affected the outcomes?

       God is all-knowing, all-powerful. Yet, rarely does God provide a dramatic miracle to change our lives. Rather, He utilizes natural occurrences and the circumstances of normal events to affect what may happen. He creates contingencies, without altering the laws of nature, to affect His purposes. These contingencies to us may seem inconsequential, very natural, perhaps unfortunate, or even harmful, but they are part of the tapestry that God has created, and of which we are a part. They become turning points around which our lives take altogether different courses.  You accidentally step on a woman's shoe in a crowded elevator and she eventually becomes your wife. You are delayed in a traffic jam and miss your flight, which crashes an hour later. You mention your passion for crossword puzzles to a person you have just met at a cocktail party, and he confesses to a similar addiction; it leads to a significant business opportunity for you. Each incident is small and unpredictable, but has a major effect on your life. Some of these events may be random happenings; others could be God's answer to a prayer. Although God becomes involved in human affairs, it does not mean that He manipulates people like marionettes. He has given us free will, and allows us to choose a course of action for our lives.

That is why liberty and faith are so important.  These two elements give us the opportunity to exercise our free will within the constraints of God's laws. Too many people have a self-centered view of liberty. They embrace it as a freedom from something, without recognizing that it is a freedom to do something. Liberty is not an end of itself, but a means to achieve other ends. Freedom of the press means that the press is free from restraint to publish what it deems important. Religious freedom means that people can exercise their religious beliefs without tyrannical interference and, in turn, without imposing their beliefs on others. Political freedom allows people to work toward their own destinies, within the constraints of just laws. Liberty is not the right to do whatever one pleases, regardless of the consequences. That is license. When one is free to exercise his rights, he has an obligation to exercise those rights in a responsible way, within limits. Freedom of the press does not provide the press with freedom to publish any material it wishes -- be it libelous, malicious, or knowingly erroneous. The freedom to publish carries an obligation to present the truth.

       Liberty is correctly viewed as the right to do whatever we ought, not whatever we wish. The term "ought" implies a purpose, a goal, an adherence to a higher level of ethics and morality. It implies obedience to God's law. That is why faith is so important. Faith -- the knowledge and practice of our religion -- helps us to know the constraints within which we are to exercise our free will, and to utilize the liberties that are given to us. Faith establishes values for us to live by, and as we do so to form habits of correct behavior. Thus, liberty and faith are two important attributes with which to lead our lives. Liberty provides the ability to exercise our free will, and faith helps us to see the boundaries within which we are to make our choices. In this way, we are partners with God in fulfilling His plan of creation and can achieve the ends for which we were created -- "To know, love, and serve God in this world, and to be happy with Him in the next."
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