So I think a lot about freedom

As the time of the Nov. 6, 2012, election approached, arrived and passed, I have been thinking a lot about the meaning of freedom.
Merriam-webster online defines freedom as:
"1 : the quality or state of being free: as
a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : independence."
Ahh. The absence of coercion or constraint in choice or action from the government. That sounds pretty good to me.
Let me explain.
I do not harbor any qualms about Barack Obama being elected president of the United States, just as I would not have had issues if Mitt Romney were trying that title on for size today.
Neither man was elected to be a savior. There is, in my mind, only one man who fits that bill, and Jesus was not running for office.
What does worry me is the direction our country seems to be taking, and those concerns were heightened as the elections across our nation unfolded Tuesday.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I am reminded of a line in my son's favorite movie series of all time: "Star Wars."
There is a part in one of the prequels that goes like this: "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."
Maybe it's the pioneer roots of the Plains states. Maybe it's just my upbringing.
It just seems that we used to rely more on ourselves and less on others.
Maybe I just finally grew up and paid attention. If so, I'm not sure of the moment that I awoke.
There always has been some sense of entitlement in this nation. But never before has it seemed so pervasive as it is today.
I was hoping for a sign Tuesday we are turning away from that, and we still want to stand tall and to fight for our freedom, the independence for which our forefathers secured, which makes us great even today ... to be principled and righteous.
The last few years of the economic downfall have been hard. And when it comes down to it, I have to admit I'm just a glass half-empty kind of girl.
So I think a lot about freedom.
There was a musical about Huck Finn of all things in the 1970s, and I always have remembered parts of one of the songs in that tale.
"Freedom: Man has to make his own."
Ahh. "a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action." That sounds pretty good to me.
But that's not right, either.
If we are to be humble before our God, we have to admit that we have an allegiance to our creator, that we turn toward him for our "constraint in choice or action."
Government serves a purpose, and there are those who are served well by it and by the compassion of a people that comprise it.
But when we begin to turn toward the government as our God, then the freedom that our true Father gave us is refused. We become lower than the animals for they know to whom to turn.
Independence is a gift we should not squander.
Somehow I pray we find that we as a nation find that path of freedom again; until then I walk it the best I can and never let my eyes stray for fear I, too, will lose the path.