Surrounded by French courtiers, John Adams is asked about his appreciation of the arts and culture.

Essentially, Adams remarks he allows himself little time for culture because he must busy himself with war and statesmanship so that his sons may one day busy themselves with being architects and scholars so that their sons may become appreciators of art and culture.

Though these are not his exact words, it made for one of many riveting scenes in HBO’s excellent on-going mini-series “John Adams.” It is a gritty and human portrayal of one of our most underrated and misunderstood founding fathers. Yet, one of the series’ most striking features is that it dramatizes what Adams and the Revolutionary generation endured.

While George Washington and his American army were keeping the British superpower at bay, Adams was overseas trying to secure foreign financial assistance for the American cause. Adams was separated from his family by an ocean and thousands of miles for several years.

He left for France with his children just that, small children, three little boys and a little girl. Returning to America after the war’s end and brokering a peace with England, Adams was reunited with his children, who have become three grown young men and an adult young woman.

Abigail Adams raised those children alone, in the midst of her husband’s absence for years, amidst a nation under the hardships of war.

They both did what needed doing with full knowledge that the names of John Adams and the other founders on the Declaration of Independence would just as well be signatures on a death warrant should the revolution fail and England prevail. We know that the Revolution succeeded, but Adams, the founders and their families had no guarantees of success in 1776.

They lived in uncertain times.

As do we.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism, recession, defaults on subprime mortgages, foreclosures, rising gas and food prices, the lessening value of the dollar.

These are our uncertainties. Like our founders, we, too, face hardships, but we may have to adopt a trait that saw our founding generation through its crises. A trait that seems sadly lacking today.

Sacrifice.

The founders were willing to sacrifice years of their lives to ensure the faith of their dreams. Nothing was assured. Even their sacrifices could not guarantee success, so they sacrificed even more in order to endure.

Freedom is not free. This phrase is usually applied to our military, but the truth is it applies equally to all members of a free society. It applies to civilians as much as it does to soldiers. Freedom has costs.

Perhaps, we have come to take our freedoms for granted. Perhaps, we have come to think of our rights as more than self-evident but rather our rights have become self-centered.