To Be or Not to Be — that is Freedom

Freedom is a circumstance. A choice. A consequence. A taste leaves us longing — the open-handed offering that so many take for granted and so many more are too afraid to try.

It's not choosing which essentials to leave behind because there's no money for it all. Out goes the Tylenol with a quiet prayer that no one gets a fever or takes a bad fall.

It's the guarantee to gather peacefully in our homes, our streets and our hearts.

It's marking the memory of those who've died — not with tears but with togetherness; sharing joy and stories of a different time.

It's the sun glinting off the handlebars, your first "set of wheels" that beckons you into a world wider than the living room. That first flick of fear as you round the block, out of eyesight from everything holding you near. The sting of a scrape, the taste of salt from an errant tear you refuse to cry — because big kids ride bikes and only babies cry.

It's a hand on a loved one, the contentment that their belly is full, their soul is safe, and their dreams are flitting things on gossamer wings — raised up on hopes, happiness and the chance to choose whoever they want to be.

It's ignoring that phone call from the one you love most. There's always later, right?

It's going out without a coat, even though it's chilly. It's fine, there's heat in the car, and it ruins your look anyway.

It's a like, a laugh, a joke at their expense. An aside, a fear inside that what has been may never be again.

Still, I stand.

Still, I embrace.

And still I make a joyful noise unto my Lord

Because I can where so many can't.