Today is May 5, 2020. Don and I had plans to be in the Netherlands attending the 75 Anniversary of Liberation celebrations. Of course our plans were postponed, as were the celebrations. So here we are, at home, with our orange shirts on, Dutch music in the foreground (music is seldom in the background at our house) and our planned ethnic dishes for each meal today. If we can’t actually be there, we’ll just pretend. Even our neighbors got into the act, donning orange shirts and adding “Vander” to their last name. Cute.

It’s inspiring to me that after 75 years, the Dutch are still so grateful to the Canadians for their part in liberating their nation from the occupation during World War II. Canadians are their heroes; Canadian tourists to the Netherlands are always warmly welcomed and treated royally. Each year on May 5, the country turns out in droves for lively celebrations commemorating this historical event.

I think our parents’ decision to immigrate to Canada was in no small part due to their deep respect for the Canadians whose sacrificial action secured freedom for the Dutch people. Freedom is a big deal. It is a gift not easily forgotten, and worthy of celebration.

How wonderful to be free! Canadians of our generation and younger have not experienced oppression, hunger and violence from internal conflict, or at the hands of another nation. Many new Canadians know the feelings of hopelessness in these circumstances. New Canadians, while missing their homeland, are so thankful for the peace experienced here. Those who have never experienced slavery are less able to appreciate the price of freedom.

Anyone who has been enslaved by a destructive habit or substance knows the relief of true freedom. Milestone celebrations with Alcoholics Anonymous and similar organizations are significant. To be plucked from the gripping talons of an addiction – and to remain in that freedom – is certainly cause to remember and celebrate.

Perhaps this is why, we who have taken on the name of Christ know perhaps best of all just how wonderful freedom is. We, too, have been held hostage – by our sins, by our fears, by our selfishness. Sometimes we slip back into these, but not for long. We’ve been set free from slavery. We are recipients of the grace found in the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf and in the resurrection that gives us victory over slavery and ultimately, death. Freedom is life giving.

We celebrate our freedom in praise, in thankfulness, in worship, in discovering who God has made us to be, and then acting on that discovery. We celebrate our freedom in the work we are given, in the community we are part of, in the gifts and talents integral to our being, in the beauty and love we share with others.

When we experience true freedom, it is natural that we share our story of that freedom with others and celebrate!