One Road

The Winding Road, Utah

 

In his song "Crossroads" Don McLean wrote, "They walk one road to set them free,

Only to find they've gone the wrong direction."

 

Americans have some very strong ideas when it comes to freedom.  Some take the extreme position that freedom means they can do what ever they want, when ever they want. 

 

As the old sayings go, freedom of speech does not extend to yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, and the right to extend your fist stops some where short of the other guys nose.

 

Freedom in the sense that most Americans think of it really comes down to who sets those limits, and how they are decided.

 

In the "ideal" situation limits are set based upon that which allows for the maximum freedom for each individual and the maximum security for each individual, as determined by the common vote and guided by the overall principles set forth in the constitution.

 

In practice that rarely happens, at least not directly.  In practice there are conflicting groups each demanding that they have the right to do things their way, while at the same time trying to impose their beliefs on others. 

 

But over time, somehow, we struggle through it.  In large part because most of the judges in the higher courts do live up to their oath to consider ONLY the law and not "the will of the people", and to always consider the constitution as the supreme law.

 

All of that refers to our external freedom.  Yet I think what Don McLean's song is really referring to is internal freedom.

 

What is internal freedom? 

 

In the ballad "Me and Bobby McGee" Janis Joplin sang "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."  While that may be a romanticized ideal it's not one that I could totally agree with.

 

Just as external freedom can sometimes be understood in terms of what limits us, so to can internal freedom.  But it's not so much about having nothing left to lose, but the knowledge that everything has already been lost.

 

What ever road we walk down to find that freedom, the destination is the same for all of us.  This life ends. 

 

Do  you believe that the end of this life is the end of you?   Then perhaps you have gone down the wrong road.  Do you believe that there is some essential "you" that survives the death of flesh and blood, then you are going down a right road.

 

Once you have taken for your own the idea that what is beyond not only exists, but in some way is the more important part of the story of "you", then you can let go the grip of "I must" and instead embrace "I will".

 

True internal freedom is not something anyone else can see from the outside.  Embracing "I will" and being compelled by "I must" look very similar from the outside.  But for those who have let the "I must" fall away and embraced the "I will" the future isn't so scary. 

 

Freedom's just another word for knowing there was nothing to lose to begin with.