Rethinking Liberty

"There is no triumph without loss, no victory without sacrifice, no freedom without suffering." -- JRR Tolkien

“I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery” - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies” - Abraham Lincoln

“The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.” - Thomas Jefferson

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” - Frederic Bastiat

“There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream.” - Archibald MacLeish

It's Independence Day...what in your life needs to be set free?

Rethinking Pain-Killers

Man is an animal which, alone among the animals, refuses to be satisfied by the fulfillment of animal desires. Alexander Graham Bell

Bacchus hath drowned more men than Neptune. Thomas Fuller

Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the
measure of thy desire. Arab proverb

Like Odysseus and his men, adolescents are suffering from painful experiences and memories that seem to cause an unrelenting soul-ache. Do they use this pain to drive them on to real answers and true healing? Sadly, no. Most young people (and adults, as well) attempt to numb the pain they are experiencing. We will next examine how Odysseus’s soldiers endeavored to anesthetize themselves against the suffering they had experienced.

The Lotus-Eaters

Odysseus and his men sailed across the seas in a vain attempt to reach the only home they had ever known. Cursed by the god Poseidon and weary from war and adventure, a fierce storm blew their ship to an island off the coast of Africa. This island had the reputation of being the “land where Morpheus plays.” Morpheus was the Greek god of dreams, the son of Hypnos, the god of sleep, and the nephew of Hades, the god of death and the underworld.

Upon setting foot ashore this strange country, Odysseus and his men crawled upon the sandy beach and fell into a deep sleep. When they awoke, they met a group of people known as the Lotophagi, or “lotus-eaters.” The Lotophagi lived in a drug-induced haze that was the result of eating the narcotic lotus fruit. The inhabitants of this land had little care for the worries and concerns of mortal men and were apathetic toward life. The islanders brought armfuls of the lotus fruit for the crew of Odysseus’s ship. Hungry and hurting from their terrible experiences in war and at sea, the sailors followed the example of the islanders and ate the narcotic fruit.

According to Bernard Evslin’s version of Homer’s Odyssey entitled The Adventures of Ulysses (1969), Morpheus examined the minds of the Greeks as they slept and found anguished memories of warfare and greed. The dream god soothed their sleep with visions of their wives and families and home. As they awoke, they longed to return to the tranquility of their dreams, so they again partook of the lotus fruit and fell into a deeper sleep still.

Sensing that the gods had destined Odysseus for other ends, Morpheus declined to fill the hero’s sleep with intoxicating visions, instead allowing him to dream as he might. Unlike his men, the Greek king experienced frightful nightmares and relived painful memories in a restless and fitful sleep. Rising, he realized that his men had eaten of the lotus fruit and had fallen into a drowsy bliss. Eager to assuage his agony, Odysseus gathered a handful of the enticing fruit and breathed in the inebriating aroma. He knew at once that if he too ate the sweet fruit, his crew would be doomed to spend their days in lethargy and illusion, rather than finally reaching home and family. In an incredible act of the will, Odysseus arose and dragged his entranced men one by one, kicking and screaming, back to the ship and back to reality to continue on their long voyage back to Ithaca.

Rethinking Doors

When you follow your bliss...doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else. - Joseph Campbell

Whenever we have something set upon our heart to do, we feel a rush of excitement. We feel refreshed, "At last, this is the thing I was meant to do!" But, the voices of doubt slowly creep in. "This is too big for me." "I couldn't possibly do something like this." "Nobody would want to listen to what I have to say." "What would others think?" Whatever the voices say, remember that the enemy would love to shred your dreams and visions before they can even take root. What is in your heart is a threat to him.

Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid! - Goethe

When you listen to what has been placed in your heart, you are listening to the voice of God, for that is where God speaks to us. When you follow your dreams, you will find you have a powerful Ally. So doors will open before us and paths will be made clear before us where we never thought possible. Your dreams and desires will meet resistance, but that only helps you see beyond to the enemy that attacks what he most fears. Keep looking for the open doors.

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. - Harold Whitman

Rethinking Treasure

This morning, Joel Osteen delivered a message about doing the things in life that set in your heart. There are all sorts of powers that will set themselves against you when you set out to live your dreams, things which will test your resolve and shake you to the core.

Osteen later made a comment that really struck me as profound. He asked the question, "Where is the greatest treasure in all the world?" He then went on to say that it wasn't in the diamond mines of South Africa, or the oil fields of the Middle East. Rather, it lies just beneath the cemeteries and graveyards of our world. How many dreams lay down there, unrealized? How many books went unwritten? How many cures for diseases went undiscovered? How many deeds went undone out of the fear of stepping into our desire?

Harold Whitman writes, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

If we bury our dreams and desires too long, we may find that they will remain that way forever. Follow your bliss...

So baby dry your eyes
Save all the tears you've cried
Oh, that's what dreams are made of
Oh baby, we belong in a world that must be strong
Oh, that's what dreams are made of

And in the end on dreams we will depend
'Cause that's what love is made of
Van Halen - Dreams