Page 6 - September 2015 Catalyst

Joe Grimaud
IS FREEDOM FREE?
Included in this ar- ticle are portions of two founding doc- uments which bear on our freedom to worship God in the way we choose.
I think most of you probably know I served 20 years in the US Air Force—five years as an enlisted man and the remainder of a 20 year career as an officer and fighter pilot. Over time I developed priorities to help guide my life. Those priorities are: God, Family, Coun- try, and Career. While country may only be number three in the priority order, all of those priorities are important to me. I
love my country.
Recently a friend of mine who lives in Maryland sent me a proposed book to re- view about the Constitution of the United States, and the history behind it. Al- though I have always believed and known that the founders of our country had a high regard for God, I also knew that they had a high regard for religious liberty. You see, this country was founded by individu- als primarily escaping the religious tyran- ny in Europe. Before the Pilgrims landed
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Gladys Grimaud
A LOOK IN THE MIRROR
Recently my sweet- heart gave me a bouquet of f low- ers, the beauty and fragrance of those f lowers sitting be- side my bathroom vanity warmed my heart. My senses took
in the spectrum of color and sweet aroma that infiltrated the room. However, after a few days of neglect the fragrance was gone. The flowers began to wilt and fade without much fanfare. Oh, I meant to snip the ends of the stems and rearrange them in fresh water, but slowly and surely as my neglect continued, the petals began to fade and drop off. My sweetheart and I went out of town for a few days, and when we returned home, I discovered a mountainous pile of dead flower petals that had landed all over the top of my vanity. The mirrored wall in front of my vanity reflected and magnified the devastation of my negligence. What was once a beautiful bouquet of flowers was now an ugly heap of deadness.
I wonder if that is what has happened in America (can we still say America or has that word been forbidden for fear of of- fending someone)? I remember when the
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september 2015
6 CityLight.org