Harper: We must continue to make payments for our freedoms

I’m sitting down to write a few words for this column with an earlier deadline than usual, so that my usual Monday deadline can be observed as a holiday by those who prepare and publish it. Thus, I’m writing with thoughts of Memorial Day in the foreground, and you’re reading this with the annual observance in the rear view mirror.

Looking back is how it should be, or more accurately, how it is. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance. It’s about honoring what was. About honoring “who” was, and what they did not for themselves, but for duty, honor, and love of a country.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday in the way you best saw fit to choose to spend it. That’s not chided slap that you likely saw on social media all weekend. Constant reminders of “your day at the beach was paid for by their day at the beach” have become an annual scold and exercise in virtue signaling. I’ve never met a veteran lucky enough to have returned from combat who begrudged their fellow Americans from enjoying themselves when given the opportunity to take a much deserved break.

They literally fought for freedom. They’re happy for us to exercise it, and enjoy it.

Memorial Day does remain a solemn observance, however. It’s not about the veterans who returned home, though we should still honor them at every opportunity for their sacrifice. It’s specifically about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us, and for our country. It’s also about those they left behind, so we do not forget that they, too, paid a dear price for the freedoms we enjoy.

Those of us who value these sacrifices bear the responsibility to ensure that their sacrifices are not just remembered, but honored. This goes well beyond how we spend one holiday, or one weekend.

The United States – with all of our troubles and internal domestic squabbles – remains one of the great bastions of freedom in the world. Whether serving in uniform or just an average everyday citizen, it is our responsibility – more specifically, our duty – to preserve it.

There is a somewhat trite yet true saying that “Freedom isn’t free.” We like to say it was bought and paid for by those who we honor on Memorial Day. That is true, but there’s more to it.

Much like a house that is bought at a closing table when the papers are signed, the costs do not end there. That transaction is the beginning of a journey of making a home. There is constant upkeep required, along with a steady stream of costs if the investment is appreciate.

No American alive today put the down payment on our home country. We were fortunate to inherit our space in this world. The initial mortgage was paid by those in generations before us.

Now we’re all here, looking around at each other, many with differing ideas. Some want to keep it status quo with rustic charm. Some want a minor refresh. Some would prefer to strip it down to its good bones for a full remodel. A misguided few look at America as a teardown.

We’re fortunate to live in a place that mostly tolerates the differing of opinions. We’re exceptionally fortunate that we’re able to express those opinions, even when they’re contrary to those in government positons.

Would some prefer to stop that? Sure. Have some tried in recent history? Regrettably, yes.

Are some abusing these freedoms by conflating criminal activity with their rights? Yes, but in our pushback to these individuals and groups, we must also ensure we don’t conflate the right to assemble or to protest with their responsibility to follow the law and respect others’ rights, safety and property.

Are there constant threats to our freedoms, coming from both foreign and domestic sources?

Again, yes. It doesn’t take much to identify those – some real amid the many others that reach hyperbole.

I don’t worry too much about how we spend our time on Memorial Day in order to honor the fallen. I worry much more about how we exercise our own freedoms, and how much we’re willing to permit those with whom we vehemently disagree to exercise their own.

Freedom isn’t a house on a one-way street. If you believe freedom requires everyone to agree with you, you’re doing freedom wrong.

I hope you took some time to remember those who made the sacrifices to give us the freest country on Earth this past weekend. I hope in the days and weeks ahead we can all look at those we disagree and find the common footing that places us on American soil – common ground that was paid for long before any of us were here.