Freedom has always asked something of us.

Man's search for freedom is a civic and spiritual quest anchored to the goal of emancipating all of humanity, but particularly the poor and oppressed. We have always sacrificed a bit of ourselves to allow others the promise we inherited. The words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in 1883: a promise that it seems we no longer wish to keep. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pump," cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door".

"Yearning to breathe free". That statement creates a visual of masses with arms outstretched. A basic definition of yearning: "a feeling of intense longing for something, typically something that one has been separated from or that is unattainable".

It has been 250 years since our founding fathers put pen to paper and vision to action and gave us a Declaration of Independence. It has long been acknowledged that the Declaration was for white males only; women, Native Americans, and African slaves were left out and still are marginalized. While our founding fathers also acknowledge that we are in the process of creating a more perfect union, we still have some distance to go to become more perfect.

A number of people are organizing a national fast, a sacred pause for civic renewal. Fasting was part of the Continental Congress that gave us the Declaration of Independence. A fast is a sacrifice where we give something up in order to achieve a greater good. The quest of life, liberty, and the opportunity to pursue happiness was endowed by our creator and affirms that the creator intended us to be equal.

"We have a way to go, but we invite you to join us in this national effort on the 4th of every month, beginning in February". The organizers affirm the liberty declared in 1776, and they seek to create a sense of belonging promised by the inscription on the Statue of Liberty in 1883. They are prepared to fast food, social media time, and do acts of service to achieve the goal of a people who continue to lift the light of freedom. This is Jim Copple for the Freedom Fast.