I'm free!!

John Inman as 'Mr Humphries'

 Brits of a certain age might remember Mr Humphries. Created by actor John Inman, his catchphrase, ‘I’m free’, became his trademark. When spoken with Inman’s typical comedy camp-ness, the phrase carried multiple connotations and always raised a smile as viewers interpreted for themselves what this ‘freedom’ might mean!

I confess that this catchphrase came to mind earlier this week as we joined with the people of Estonia to celebrate freedom. Tuesday (20th August) marked another year since the restoration of Independence. Dramatic developments in the Soviet Union in August 1991 resulted in the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania finally regaining their independence and Estonians celebrate this recovery of freedom with real enthusiasm. It’s a public holiday, so we all enjoyed a lovely summer’s day off. As we arrived home from work on Monday 19^th we noticed a large Estonian flag propped up in the hallway of our apartment block. The next morning the flag was

The national flag flown outside our apartment

proudly flying outside.  Throughout the city (and I guess in other cities across the country, too) homes and businesses were decorated with flags. It was a wonderful sight.

Our day started early as Capt Ave (our Corps officer at Kopli) had called us all to a 7am open air prayer meeting at Pikk Herman, the tower of Toompea castle. We returned to the hall afterwards for refreshments as others joined us for an 8am meeting of prayer for the nation, its people and its leaders. Later in the day we joined with what felt like half the population of Tallinn for a wonderful open air concert in Kadriog park. Abut 1,000 musicians, enthusiastic flag waving and a bit of a ’sing-song’. As an overseas visitor and a Brit abroad it was a privilege to

The music festival in Kadriog Park

share these celebrations – a powerful reminder that those who most appreciate freedom are perhaps those who have known what it is to have freedom denied them. Having never lived under the oppression of political occupation I’m surely guilty of taking the blessings of freedom for granted.

This theme continued later in the week as I came across the new mission slogan introduced by The Salvation Army in Australia. Early next month Salvationists will gather in congress for a ‘Freedom Celebration’. It looks to be a fantastic event – but the intro on the web announcement echoes the mission of every Salvationist – in whatever part of the world we serve: The Salvation Army is about people finding freedom.  The Freedom Celebration promotes what we’re doing as an evangelical movement to help people find freedom from whatever confines them from living life to the full.  The freedom we celebrate is found through our faith in Jesus Christ, through a nurturing community, and through actions of service and kindness to others……………we're about people finding freedom.

Freedom from fear. Freedom from neglect. Freedom from poverty and addiction.

Freedom to dream. Freedom to love. Freedom to make a difference.

Freedom to live life to the full.

I encourage you to take a peek at the web site: http://my.salvos.org.au/freedom-celebration/  I pray that the event will powerfully remind those who attend that spiritual freedom is an incredible blessing and one we need to share with others.

Mr Humphries was a fictional character, birthed in the 70’s BBC comedy show, ‘Are you being served?’ As I draw this week’s random rambling to a close I’m reminder that British Salvationists proudly wear 2 x ‘S’s on their uniforms. Last week we removed ours and replaced them with the 2 x ‘P’s worn by members of the Estonian 'Paastearmee'. But these ‘S’s have always meant more to me than the first letter of our organizational name – growing up I was taught that they are worn as a reminder that we are ‘saved’ to ‘serve’. We celebrate the opportunity (and responsibility) we have to serve others and the huge privilege of introducing them to the blessings of freedom through a relationship with Jesus.