Our fathers fought for Liberty,
They struggled long and well,
History of their deeds can tell–
But did they leave us free?
Are we free from vanity,
Free from pride, and free from self,
Free from love of power and pelf,*
From everything that’s beggarly?
Are we free from stubborn will,
From low hate and malice small,
From opinion’s tyrant thrall?**
Are none of us our own slaves still?
Are we free to speak our thought,
To be happy, and be poor,
Free to enter Heaven’s door,
To live and labor as we ought?
Are we then made free at last
From the fear of what men say,
Free to reverence Today,
Free from the slavery of the Past?
Our fathers fought for Liberty,
They struggled long and well,
History of their deeds can tell–
But ourselves must set us free.
~James Russell Lowell
*pelf: “riches or wealth, especially those acquired dishonestly”
**thrall: “slavery, bondage”
/~/
We call America “the land of the free.” And, yes, in many ways that’s true–we are blessed with so, so many freedoms. But are we ourselves free? Are we free from pride, love of power and wealth, our stubborn wills, hate, judging, slavery to opinion, fear of what others might say?
The fourth stanza asks if we’re free to be happy and to be poor.
It seems more and more people are depressed, and relying on pills and alcohol and parties to make them happy. People usually don’t walk around with a smile on their face; and if they do, others probably wonder why and start judging/gossiping. Are we free to be happy? Will society let us? Will we let ourselves be happy? Will we choose to focus on the good, choose to delight in even the small things, choose to wear a smile?
There is so much emphasis on money today; people tend to look down on those that are poor. We’re bombarded with messages from all sorts of sources: “get rich,” “buy this,” “get more,” etc. Are we free to be poor, to be okay with not having money dripping from our fingers? Will we tell ourselves, “You know what? It really doesn’t matter that I’m not a millionaire, that I sometimes struggle to pay the bills and make money stretch–God will provide my needs”?
I kind of disagree with the last line. We can’t really set ourselves free. We can choose to let God make us free, choose to work on changing and growing and learning to live in freedom–but we can’t do it on our own.
“Our fathers fought for Liberty,” but only God (with our cooperation) can truly make us free.
