Dear Friends in Christ,
On Sunday, we celebrated American Independence Day, our nation’s birthday, a day when we thank God for the freedom we have in this country to live where we wish, work in the profession we choose, and worship God as we choose to. In centuries past, and even today, many people have not enjoyed these same freedoms, and live under oppressive governments. In fact, our own Church, the Old Calendar Greek Orthodox Church, was even banned in Greece after the majority of the clergy accepted the forced change of calendars in 1924, and this situation continued technically through the 1970s, although persecutions were the worst in the 1950s. In fact, our first bishop in America, Metropolitan Petros, came from Greece after his family property was seized by the state! We have a lot to be thankful for, indeed.
How we choose to exercise our freedom, though, is the next question. In order to embark on the journey to freedom, our ancestors had to choose to give up certain things, in the hope of gaining other things. There was a price tag, and there were certainly trade-offs. Some knew they would never enjoy the fruit of their own labor, but believed they could provide a better life for their children. Such acts revealed a true self-sacrificial spirit, which laid a great foundation for us.
