Free in Spirit

Freedom is an enigmatic word, really...it is a word of many meanings and interpretations. In fact, "What does it mean to be free?"; is a Philosophy 101 question we might ask ourselves today, June 19th, when we celebrate the emancipation of black slaves in 1865.

The thought that pops into my head is what the pilot says when you're in an airplane and have reached a certain altitude: "you are now free to move about the cabin".  You were once constrained, but are now free to move about....hmmm, really?  You are traveling in a relatively small space with many other people, packed like sardines in a can, but you now have the freedom to walk down the aisle and use the restroom.

I'm sure black slaves felt similarly when they were first told they were free. The constraints were removed, but what did their freedom mean, really? Where were they to go? They faced many years of fighting for basic human rights and are still doing so today. 

What does anyone's freedom mean, really? It's a good question to ask ourselves, to meditate on, because the concept is integral to our happiness, I believe. My best answer to this question is that freedom is the ability to make our own choices in life. Even if we come to the realization that we're not really free because we have too many debts or a job that we hate or an abusive relationship that weighs us down, we are blessed to live in a country where we can make different choices and change the course of our lives. Our life will not end, we will not be put in prison, etc.,if we decide to write a new chapter in the book of our lives.

It's important also, to remember that we are always free in spirit. Even when we cannot change our physical circumstances, we are free to dream, to pray,  to write poetry or music, to sing or to create art. The African Americans who were enslaved before Juneteenth sang spirituals while working in the fields to express their love of God and their dreams of a better life. Anne Frank wrote her story while hidden from the Nazis in a small, cramped space. Constrained but still free...

Let's think about that today: the ways in which we are constrained, by obligations of whatever sort, but still, always, free in spirit and free to make choices.

Thank you God, for freedom.