This I Believe

The first time I saw the Iwo Jima bronze I was struck by its portrayal of simple ideal and effort. Inspired by it I say I believe in freedom. Not the freedom to do as you please, but the freedom to do the good. I believe this is the lofty concept of freedom in the minds and hearts of our founders and practical driver for my daily behavior.

I believe this freedom is not bound to whether you believe in a God, which I do, or do not believe in a God, as other I am close to do not. Nor is it bound to our nation. It is a freedom taught to me by those I have met, beyond sectarian self-interest, common to all, great, small, rich, poor, powerful, weak, old or young, and is the freedom expressed when I hear the challenge to ask not of my country but of myself. When I have read great religious or political works I hear voices added to this chorus in my heart and mind: the slavery of ignorance, hatred, apathy, greed, and selfish promotion are the antithesis of freedom; that this freedom to do the good serves all by its very nature and can never serve the one.

I believe this is not the freedom of Utopia, born of naivetT, overly idealistic and unattainable, but is the freedom of the everyday, the freedom to be kind instead of rude, to open a door for another and to graciously accept that open door; to listen and hear as well as to talk and be heard.

I have found throughout my life that this simple choice for the good, whether from my mother’s instruction to speak politely, saying yes ma’am and no sir, to show respect to another, or of my father to stand up for what is important no matter the cost simply because it is important, that makes me free. A freedom where compromise is not seen as loss but as the road to the best good possible; where the opened door is free from any obligation and the gracious acceptance of that open door is free from any suspicion of obligation. I have come to understand that freedom is not a right but a responsibility, the freedom to put aside so that one may take up.

Ultimately I believe that this freedom allows me to try to do the good, free of the fear of failure and judgment in the case of that failure. I believe that my effort will be joined by the effort of others. It is this freedom that calls for my cooperation and participation, immortalized in bronze a simple yet important choice where my daily effort and the effort of all for the good, helpful or not, accomplishes the goal of the human spirit to stand as a city on high, not as an overlord but as a beacon toward which all may rally, around which all may gather, and under which all may flourish.