As the weather warms, many of us set about “spring cleaning” and preparing for Memorial Day, when we pause to remember those who died to give us freedom. The question is whether, given freedom and time, we are using them wisely.
On the freedom side, there is goodness in recalling our individual liberties – a chance to voice thoughts without punishment, worship freely, work, travel, protect ourselves, due process, equal protection, and recognition of our sovereignty.
The obligation that comes with freedom is to use it well and preserve it for the future, as they did for us. In a way, the Golden Rule applies over time – an intergenerational promise to preserve for others what was preserved for us.
In their time, early Americans fought to preserve what we enjoy. We must defend freedom as they did, never stopping – since threats to individual liberty never stop.
As Memorial Day comes, we remember vividly what we owe backward, and can only pay it forward. We recommit ourselves to preserving liberty, reminded again on Independence Day what we inherited, especially in this 250th anniversary year.
But what about time? That gift God gives to do what we will, including defending those natural law rights He also gave. Will we be worthy of the gifts and sacrifices that preserved all this into our time? How best do we actually use our time?
My answer, just one worth pondering, is that we should – as we go about readying ourselves for Memorial Day – just be conscious that time, like freedom, is a gift.
Four great minds who thought about time come to mind. In various ways, great Americans from Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan to our famous inventors each recognized time as a gift from God, limited and in need of being used wisely.
But also in our Revolutionary era, French missionary Stephen Grellet spoke about time. “I shall pass through this world but once. If there is any kindness I can show, anything good I can do, to any fellow being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” Do good in your time, it passes fast.
Like him, words spoken 2050 years ago by “The Elder Hillel” resonate. In his time, he reminded people of the value, enhanced by what we do for others. “If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” This last is the kicker. When we can do good, we must.
Ben Franklin was practical, yet aware that time is limited, flush with choices. “Never leave to tomorrow that which you can do today,” he succinctly warned.
The French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, also opined on time. He admired beauty, was a daring aviator, and was shot down in WWII. The author of “The Little Prince” wrote: “The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something.”
Even Albert Einstein, who mathematically proved time was relative, was eminently human, appreciated freedom and time. In an essay not on physics, he wrote: “The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.”
He continued: “Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the fields of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty.”
So, what does it all come down to? As Memorial Day approaches, use your freedom and time well. We live in the freest nation ever, so we are duty-bound to our gifts, as we “shall not pass this way again.”
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
