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Below is a reading from my book THE OTHER ROAD AHEAD followed by a comment inspired by the selection.👇
Freedom is not the exclusive property of poets but the poet serves a useful metaphor to discuss what freedom means for the rest of us. We often think it is the creative people who are the freest to design and invent but everyone has an inborn freedom to act and choose for themselves.
Of course this produces a problem for those who think it is their duty to eliminate or control our right to freedom. Some interests would limit our choices or build choices that steer us to a predetermined outcome through marketing or coercion.
Awareness of manipulative and controlling forces in society is critical for free men and women. Our thinking is shaped at every turn, sometimes for good but sometimes for other reasons. To maintain a balance is a constant challenge.
The renown philosopher of freedom Nikolai Berdyaev (d.1948) wrote this, “(human) freedom is indissolubly linked with our obligations…freedom is not a claim, but a duty, not so much what is demanded as what is demanded of us. We must be free. God demands and expects this of us.”1
Nikolai is clear that human freedom is essential for our existence and well being. It is not a fad or some impulse to be quibbled with by appointed experts.
The freedom of the poet (artist, composer, author, etc.) is not only a gift but an obligation. The opposing argument is the position of the jailer and the censor who seeks to enforce the status quo regardless how destructive that might be for the spirit.
In our time freedom is discredited and often associated with reckless behavior, revolution, and violence. This train of thought is often promoted by the people who are interested in maintaining the status quo regardless how much force it takes to accomplish this task. But actual freedom is inside the soul. It is the God given spark every one of us has.
This sparkle inside the soul can be suppressed or covered by outside sources but it cannot be extinguished completely.
Christianity and Class War, Berdyaev, Nikolai, p. 71, (1931)
"This sparkle inside the soul can be suppressed or covered by outside sources but it cannot be extinguished completely" or forever.
Berdyaev 🙌🙌🙌🙌