by Rev. John Morehouse
In the world in which we find ourselves, we are rightfully concerned with our freedom and the freedoms of others. We are especially concerned about the freedoms being denied to immigrants and other marginalized communities. We must continue to protest this trampling of the freedoms accorded in our constitution as a country and in our faith as a religion.
But there is another freedom that equally deserves our attention and that is the inner freedom of our souls. The Philosopher who goes by the alias Zippypin1 head wrote, “External freedom is a seductive dream that leads us onwards and onwards. When things don’t pan out for us we figure that we will have better luck next time, and so we keep at it. We keep hold of our agenda, and persist in our attempts to meet that agenda. . . . If external freedom is the freedom to meet my agenda, then clearly internal freedom must be the freedom to drop my agenda.”
We need to be freedom that allows our best self-expression as well as the internal freedom to choose (or not to choose) how we exercise that freedom. Freedom alone is not enough. Freedom coupled with purpose is what living is all about.
I am not arguing for spiritual libertarianism here. Rather I am suggesting that as we protest for others who face the prospect of losing their freedom, we engage in some real soul searching about how we might direct our lives to helping others and growing deeper in our understanding about what matters most to us. Speaking of protests; be sure to join fellow MLUCers at one of the No King Day protests on Saturday, June 14.
Our community at MLUC is dedicated to the mission of transforming lives; be it our own lives or by extension the lives of those whom we can provide support and compassion. I hope you will join us this Sunday as I explore the interplay of freedom in all that we do.