Too often we take freedom, like electricity, for granted.

On May 26, Memorial Day, America pays tribute to those Americans who faithfully served their country in peace and in war. We say "Thank you!" for the many sacrifices they made to ensure that the freedom we enjoy on a daily basis continues.

America's democracy is like the light switch in our homes. We enter, hit the switch, and the light comes on. We are not one bit concerned as to how the switch works or the source of the electricity it channels. In the Arkansas winter of 2001, however, an ice storm left the state looking like a war zone. Some were without electricity for over a month. When they entered their homes and hit the switch, nothing happened. They soon developed a strong appreciation for what took place within that small box on their wall.

Freedom is no different. For many, it is an unrecognized commodity. We wake up in the morning and decide what we will wear, where we will work, and what we will do after work. We have options of every sort. If we do not like one restaurant, we eat at another. If we do not like a certain magazine or newspaper, we read another. The list goes on.

Unlike Arkansans who lost electricity for a month, Americans generally have no idea what it is like to be without freedom for even a moment. Yet freedom is so precious that we should pray daily for those individuals throughout the world who are willing to give their lives in serving their country and so ensuring we will always be able to enter our home and throw the switch of freedom knowing it will come on.

God bless our military men and women and God bless America!

Angelo G. Coppola, Sr. is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a doctorate in public school administration. Now retired, Brother Coppola has served as a teacher, principal, superintendent of schools, Arkansas Department of Education, and Deputy Director Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. He is also a retired Naval Officer and a member of the Executive Board for the Quapaw Council Boy Scouts of America. Dr. Coppola is a Past Master and presently the Junior Deacon of Albert Pike Lodge No. 714 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is on the Finance Committee for the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, Chairman of the Eagle Scout Committee for the Valley of Little Rock Scottish Rite Masons, and a member of the York Rite. In 1998, Bro. Coppola retired as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Reserves, but he recently signed back on as a civilian to teach university-level courses in American and World History to servicemen aboard the USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) now in the Mediterranean.