In the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, there are 17 definitions of the word “Freedom.”

The 17th , “the philosophical definition” appealed to me which states: “The power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy, self-determination.”

My Filipino ancestors’ innocence was violated hundreds of years ago. Their welcoming, open arms and hands were restrained by brutal invaders and conquerors; forced into religions and new cultures of either Catholicism or Islam or be slaughtered … killed is a tame word.

My mother’s Filipino parents came to California in the 1920s. They worked hard in a new land surviving prejudice, and to be fair, as most people have in the 1920s to the present.

My paternal grandfather was an American Soldier fighting in the Spanish American War in the Philippines. There he met my Filipino grandmother. During WWII in the Philippines, my father and uncles were privileged enough to look Filipino, and did not have to hide from the Japanese. However, my aunts looked American and hid in the mountains, covering their heads to hide their light brown hair, to avoid being killed by the Japanese.

Today, my strength is quickened by the realization that my freedom MUST arise from deep within; my DNA if you wish AND the Spirit of God. I pray each day to see the soul and spirit of people with whom I interact.

My freedom, your freedom, if you choose, MUST be defined by the Spirit loving my enemies, doing good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me and pray for those who mistreat me ... Luke 6:27-18.

PatriciaAn Raymundo-Schmidt lives in Lakeport.

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