A man moves slowly or swiftly, he does his work weakly or strongly, according to the energy that is in him. But the direction of his life, this way or that way, follows the unseen influence of what he admires and believes most. Available the fifteenth of every month, short inspirational treasures by Gammon Irons. LIBERTY What is liberty? It is the recognition of voluntary allegiance to the highest law. And what is the highest law? It is the law of gratitude and love. Who, then, is free? He who sees and feels the obligations which bind him to serve the highest and the best. The noblest, richest, fullest, purest life is that which has the deepest and strongest sense of indebtedness resting upon it always, and impelling it forward along the line of duty, which is also the line of joy. So, then, true liberty is the highest kind of bondage. I. The sense of belonging to something is essential to our happiness. We are never without this sense, and therefore we do not realize its importance. But let us try for once to strip it away from us, and then perhaps we may feel what it means. You remember the story of The Man Without a Country. Endeavor now to construct in imagination the figure of a man without a world, without a fellow-man, without spirit. Does not the mere contemplation of such a condition as that throw us back forcibly, almost violently, upon the truth that the joy of life is a dependent joy, and that we can only come into true and happy possession of ourselves when we realize that we belong to something greater than ourselves? As living beings we are part of a universe of life; as intelligent beings we are in connection with a great circle of conscious intelligences; as spiritual beings we have our place in a moral world controlled and governed by the supreme spirit. In each of these spheres there is a law, a duty, an obligation, a responsibility, for us. And our felicity lies in the discovery and acknowledgment of those ties which fit us and bind us to take our place, to play our part, to do our work, to live our life, where we belong. II. The true uplifting and emancipation of our life comes through the recognition of the higher ties and relationships which bind us. Here is a slave bound by artificial law to the service of a human master. How shall you make that man free? Suppose you slay the master, and strike the bonds from the limbs of the slave, and say to him, "Go! you are free, you have no master, you belong to no one." What have you done for him? Is he really any more free than he was before? Is he not still a slave, though a masterless one? But suppose you teach him to believe that he is a human being, and that he has a service to render, even in his low estate, to the whole brotherhood of mankind - a service just as real and true, and therefore just as noble, as that of the king upon the throne. Suppose you bring into his mind the great truth that he belongs to humanity just as fully and as completely as his master does, and that, even under the hard conditions of his life, it is his duty, his privilege, his glory, to serve humanity by honesty and fidelity and diligence and purity. Now, indeed, you have liberated his soul; and if the liberation of his body comes, as it ought to come, as it must come, it will find him already a free man, and fit for liberty, because he has caught sight of the true meaning of fraternity and equality. And, so life carries written upon its very face the great truth that the only real deliverance from a lower bondage lies in the recognition of a higher obligation. Mankind is made free by discerning their noblest allegiance. III. The inward joy and power of our life, in every sphere, comes from the discovery that its highest obligation rests at last upon the law of gratitude. In every tie that binds us, we are made free and glad to serve, when we recognize that we have been given value we cannot repay. Suppose we come to understand that this race of mankind to which we belong is bound together by something deeper and more vital than subjection to an outward law, that there is a vicarious element in human life, that no man liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself, that all the efforts and aspirations and toils and sufferings of humanity serve us and are for our sake. This is true in the plainest and most literal sense. The houses that shelter us, the clothes that cover us, the food on our tables, have all been won for us by the labor of other hands. We have paid for that labor, it is true, but there is one thing that we have not paid for, and that is the life that has gone into the labor. Every touch of beauty, of light, of power, every gift of riches, of freedom, of learning that is ours, has been paid for by the lives of our fellow-men, and binds us to their service. It is this thought alone which can reveal to us the immense meaning of humanity, and fit us for our part in life, and make us truly noble men and gentle women. We are bought with a price. Join us next time for Who Owns the Mountains – 15 December 2017.
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AuthorMusings from Gammon Irons. To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for us all; and surely a good haven to sail. Archives
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