BREATHING FREELY UNDER WATER
It can generally be agreed
upon that the extent and immensity of human knowledge has surpassed and
exceeded the wildest of our expectations.
In Greek mythology, such a state of
affairs never went unnoticed and unpunished by the gods. The fate of Pandora, Arachne and
Prometheus are clear examples of the deities’ propensity to limit human
creativity and knowledge within ‘safe’ boundaries. Indeed, all mythology is
loaded with allegory. One mortal
who underwent punishment for her intelligence and creativity is Arachne.
Arachne, a weaver who challenged the goddess of wisdom and crafts, Athena to a
weaving contest. Arachne’s work was far more beautiful.
Athena out of fury and
frustration ripped Arachne's work into pieces, and hit her
on the head three
times. Terrified and ashamed, Arachne hanged herself. Then Athena said
"Live on then, and yet hang, condemned one, but, lest you are careless in
future, this same condition is declared, in punishment, against your
descendants, to the last generation!" Her arrogance and hubris resulted in
her being transformed into a spider. [1]
I have always thought of freedom as the measure
of the quality of one’s life. Our society is of course obsessed with freedom in
the sense in which it is exemplified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . However, I think there is something more to life rather than hovering
over alternatives. Life is about grasping the interior freedom and limitedness
which pervades all my acts, in a phrase, ‘freedom is transcendence.’
Freedom as Faith
For many believers and non-believers alike, God and his commands seem to be the arena wherein freedom is lost and a yoke of bondage carried.
The Dominican Paul Murray has written a beautiful poem entitled the “Space Between” in which he relates the religious experience of grasping one's whole being as being grounded in God with the unquestionableness of one's freedom. The poem is clearly descriptive…
The Dominican Paul Murray has written a beautiful poem entitled the “Space Between” in which he relates the religious experience of grasping one's whole being as being grounded in God with the unquestionableness of one's freedom. The poem is clearly descriptive…
What happened
was for me
 |
| Paul Murray O.P |
A kind of
miracle
Like being
suddenly able
To breathe under
water
The astonishment
at finding
It possible again
to believe
At finding the
space
To breathe and
breathe deep
Between the word
‘freedom’
And the word God
[2]
In this breathtaking poem, the poet grasps the point that even under water, he can still breathe. He has finally grasped that he carries freedom inside of him.
Freedom as Openness to the Unbidden
I am certain that one way of conceptualising freedom is through openness.
In his article, ‘A Case Against Perfection’ Michael Sandel [3] gave an argument drawn from the theologian William May; he termed it “openness to the unbidden.” It is an argument that advocates accepting and embracing the giftedness of life, the world and children.
In his article, ‘A Case Against Perfection’ Michael Sandel [3] gave an argument drawn from the theologian William May; he termed it “openness to the unbidden.” It is an argument that advocates accepting and embracing the giftedness of life, the world and children.
To grasp freedom as rooted in God
is at the same time to grasp that all my life, my actions and experiences are a
gift of a loving father. In that case I will not perceive any tension or
contradiction between being a free human person and being a creature or a son
of God.
Freedom as the capacity to give away one’s freedom
The most noble, mature and
generous kind of freedom is the freedom to give up one’s freedom - the freedom
of Jesus as he freely travels to Jerusalem to his own death , the freedom of Jesus
as he places himself in the hands of his disciples who will later betray him saying“ take, eat, this is my body,
given for you and for many.”
The freedom of the martyrs and the activists of social justice and those
who fight for the oppressed, like the Uganda martyrs, Oscar Romero, Nelson
Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. These men have grasped that in order to be truly
free we need to be free together!
 |
| Luther, Ghandhi and Mandela |
Unlike the theology of the Ancient Greeks, my faith is the very house of
my freedom.
[1] Kline, A.S,. "Ovid -
the Metamophoses" (PDF). Tikaboo. A.S. kline. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
[2] Timothy Radcliffe ,
what is the point of being a Christian, (New York: Burns and Oates, 2005) p 26
[3] Sandel, Michael. The case
against perfection. The Atlantic 293.3 (2004): 51–62
Very well written and a good interesting read. Certainly not what I expected. Very Cool.
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