Freedom from what?

Picture credit: Maurice 'Pops' Peterson

Freedom from fear.

We have been mis-sold an idea about what freedom is. Many people think they are free but have instead been sold into slavery. Chained to earthly pleasures and notions that they think make them free.

Spending time at home without access to such pleasures including people, places, even our jobs and hobbies can make you realise how much attachment we have to such things. How much value we previously placed upon them and how we draw our identity from them. Take them away or restrict our access to them and we can suddenly feel lost or empty only we are freer now more than ever.

We’ve over consumed this notion of “freedom” only to be left bloated. We’re full up from the overwhelming pressure of our gluttony. A pressure that’s exploded in the unknown and forced us into a strict diet. An unknown that we think we have only authorities and governments to rely upon for an outcome. For many there is a sense of powerlessness. A complete lack of control. For some it will be too much.

There are some that may have already experienced a renewed sense of gratitude to life. Those who feel freer and are thankful for the time they have been given to ‘see’ once again. To truly appreciate small things like a walk, a hug or even a handshake. There are those that have a sense of excitement and enthusiastic optimism for humanity, myself included, but if we think for one second that we will all walk out of our front doors in a few weeks to be met with a complete renewal of the world we’d be very much mistaken. Yes good WILL come, and out of such chaos WILL follow beauty……………..eventually.

The reality is that you can’t be involved in a high-speed train crash and expect to walk away without damage or destruction. There’s a wreckage that needs cleaning up, and it requires a full team effort. There’s rehabilitation and recovery that’s needed for the victims and a retrospective from authorities to ensure it either does not happen again, or if it were to happen again, there would be fewer to no casualties. Right now, the whole worlds been derailed, and the media are continuously shaking the carriages in a perceived attempt to rescue victims that remain trapped inside the wreckage.

For those that have found refuge behind closed doors, they may think they are safely breathing in clean air, yet each time they turn on the news all they’ve really inhaled is another breath of uncertainty and fear. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t fear the virus, nor adhere to government guidance. We absolutely should. It’s taken the lives of many loved ones and will take many more, but there is a cure: stay home.

So, while I do as I’m told, sitting at home shielded from COVID-19, I watch as a worse and far more infectious disease multiplies on my social media: FEAR. Fear of this disease is almost as great as the threat of the disease itself. There’s an infodemic running parallel to the pandemic. What is the human cost of both?

Division.

There’s those will who chase true freedom, the ones who would risk death to really live. The ones who have already died and been brought back to life. The ones who will stand up and fight for injustice and the mis-selling of “freedom” to the masses.

And those on the reverse of life’s coin. The ones that would gladly give up their actual freedom in return for a sense of safety, for a return of their “things”. These may also be the people who think they are going to experience a far cleaner environment, but instead end up choking on the pollution of fear. There’s no face mask in the world that will protect from that.

Whether you think this virus is man-made, a natural mutation of a pathogen, or even God’s wrath, it makes no difference. It’s how you respond that will truly matter to humanity. You must ask yourself and answer honestly. What are my values? What’s in my heart?

Don’t let media control what it truly means to be human. That is a fear-based way of thinking amid a crisis. It’s how we ended up with no toilet roll. Out of fear we created the exact environment which we were trying to avoid in the first place.

Perhaps you think right now you don’t have the resources to fight this disease because you aren’t strong enough. You don’t have enough toilet paper or pasta. You don’t have the money to pay the bills or you haven’t got the emotional resources to ride the weeks ahead.

Wrong. You have. Do not let the next destination be reached by boarding a train of fear, jump on the train of hope and realise you can still have quality of life without “life”. It is not, and never was about being chained to the “normal” being chained to the “things” of the world. It is unlikely that we will simply return to any kind of normal now anyway. This is not some temporary disruption to normal life; this is a totally different way of life. How the “new normal” looks will be up to everyone to hold themselves accountable and to realise that human life and well-being is community. It is compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. It is love.

In the small town where I live, we have already experienced a real sense of community. Humanity in this town has responded to this crisis in some amazingly benevolent ways and I hope and pray that it continues not only throughout our town, but our entire nation and nations. I pray that we will have a real humanitarian drive in times of crisis that we will all find our voices to the injustices of the world. I pray that we will come to know how truly valuable each human being is.

Life is choices and true freedom allows for such choices.

Freedom or chains?

Isolation or connection?

Self-defence or kindness?

Repetition or renewal?

Fear or love?

We have never had so much time to really contemplate such choices either. To consider what life we want to step back out into. What part of our old normal are we willing to resurrect and what do we need to put to death?

Today is Easter Sunday. The day Jesus was resurrected from death to live forever. In his death and resurrection God broke the stranglehold of human selfishness and conquered it with divine love. The mystery of Easter, of Christs suffering for our failings, of his resurrection, maybe just that to many: a mystery. To Christians however, it is a reminder of hope and life. A relationship that isn’t built on natural senses, but on faith, a faith through which we know Him, are bonded by love, know He is risen and through Him have hope.

Resurrection is not resuscitation, it’s a whole new way of living. Whether you are Christian, agnostic or even atheist this remains; the truth will set you free. You choose?

Happy Easter