Open to the Spirit
Today’s word: “Freedom”
1) Integral to the concept of justice, freedom is the state of having agency over one’s own wellbeing, having a choice or say in what concerns you, the ability to act without arbitrary constraint, discrimination or exploitation. Having equal access to the resources to survive and reach one’s potential. For those who are oppressed, it can mean liberation from bondage or slavery, release from imprisonment. As long as your choices do not diminish the rights of others.
Yet ours is an age of euphemisms, were meanings of familiar words are frequently scrambled beyond recognition. Freedom’s become a loaded term, skewed by individuals or groups to signify its very opposite. Whatever its layered connotations throughout the history of the human rights struggle, freedom on the world stage now appears too often as a slogan, advertising the power of special interest groups. Brazenly waved like a false flag over all kinds of criminal behaviours creating mayhem, championing the rights of a few while compromising not only the rights but the safety of the many. So-called “freedom convoys” ignore or obstruct the freedom of movement of all in their path. Selfnamed “freedom fighters” organize political coups promoting conspiracy theories and extremist agendas. The cult of individualism threatens to overwhelm the collective good.
We seem in our time to be caught in a network of euphemisms. All too aware that words have power, there are some who choose to distort that power, disguising the benign concept of freedom - and other human rights - in their efforts to promote mass confusion, disunity, and social chaos. As if the goal of human rights for all were a zerosum game, a winner-takes-all proposition.
Our struggle for freedom includes semantics.
How do you personally define freedom? According to a familiar bit of common sense wisdom, it’s doesn’t have to be complicated. I hold with the simple statement that works on the grade school playground: “My freedom to swing my arms ends where your nose begins.” Simply stated, I am never free to deny or take your rights away.
This past week as we celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, for whom the price for promoting a dream of freedom was his very life, I came across a quote from his widow, Coretta Scott King, who writes: “We need to remember that the struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” Our vigilance on other’s behalf insures our own right to freedom.
2) In our annual cycle of Torah readings, we just began reading the stories of the Exodus from Egypt. This story takes place over several months, and takes us from the birth of Moses to his eventual death just before making it to the Promised Land. As a story it is a good one, with all the theatrics necessary for an exciting movie or cartoon (which of course have been made more than once). Yet, the reality is, that this tale of the Israelites’ journey to freedom is a long, drawn out and tiring experience. And this is what makes the freedom so powerful.
After being freed from Egypt, the story we all know so well could have been much shorter if the Israelites had just been led down a straight path to the Holy Land. But of course this is not how the story was meant to play out. As we read: “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the Philistines, although it was nearer...so God led the people roundabout, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds” (Exodus 13:17-18).
Yes, the straight path would have been quicker, and it would have led to an easy and fast freedom. Yet, what happened during this complicated roundabout journey on the way to the Holy Land is in fact the meaning of freedom itself. Only through experiencing the difficult challenges, the times of fear and separation, of community upheaval, anger and healing could the people understand their true purpose. This was their shared journey, their crucible experience. Only through this painful yet enlightening adventure could all of those individuals become what would truly help them stay strong into the future--a community.
Like the Israelites, every experience that we have, both the joys and the challenges become part of our story and ultimately, like the story of Passover, it will become so much of what makes us who we are as individuals and as a society. To paraphrase Robert Frost, we may not have chosen the path we are on, but by taking the one less travelled, it has made all the difference.
3) Growing up in the 70’s the word freedom became an anthem for our generation. The draft in the United States sent countless young people against their will into a war in Vietnam which left deep scars. Freedom became the marching cry for students. It was also seen as a cherished gift here in Canada. In my high school yearbook my slogan beside my graduation picture was: “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”. The summer I turned 20 I bought a backpack and hitchhiked across Canada. There was a tremendous sense of freedom on the open road. I guess that’s why I cherish freedom so much.
In my lifetime I have seen how the march of freedom has progressed; freedom from racism, from sexism, from prejudices against the LGBTG community, freedom for men and women to make their own choices about who they want to be. Here in Canada we have much to be proud of. Perhaps that’s why I get so distressed about the current attack on religious freedom. Certain religious garments or symbols seem to be a problem for our governments. People who wear the niqab or turbans, or who prefer mosques to churches should not be targeted for their beliefs. I also get distressed when the word freedom is used to promote racist and sexist causes, or anti government propaganda. The people who are against vaccines and other public health measures, like masking, talk about freedom. It is almost a year since the so called “Freedom Convoy”, defied the rule of law and various governments. It irks me that for so many, truth and freedom are never in the same sentence. They want the “freedom” to spread lies.
This week the country to the south of us celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.. A song that was used to help his civil rights movement was “Free at last, free at last, Thank God Almighty we are free at last”. He also said “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed”. Perhaps we need to remember those heady days of the freedom marches. Let freedom reign for everyone, as long as truth goes with it.
Once more we present a word, “freedom”, and 3 perspectives about it. What does freedom mean to you?
Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville and North Hatley Pastoral Charge; Rabbi Boris Dolin leads the Congregation Dorshei Emet in Montreal; Rev. Carole Martignacco, Unitarian Universalist is retired from ministry with Uuestrie and now resides in St-andrew’sby-the-sea , but keeps one foot in the Townships by contributing to this column;