What is Freedom? According to French philosopher, JP Sartre (1905 - 1980), "Freedom is the stuff of my being. The other is my enemy." (The Exit) If that is the view we hold, then, brothers & fathers, there is no need to live in community, no need for brotherhood, for man is nothing else than what he makes of himself (The Critique of Reason). We can all go home right now, for so vast, so limitless is my freedom on the existential horizon that the very existence of my brother impinges on my freedom, and hence, he is my enemy. If I regard my brother as my "other", then there is no hope for community life, for we shall dwell, forever in resentment, hatred and enmity.
Just as Psalm 35 speaks of the Lord as light, Psalm 26 speaks of contrast, of contrast between the Lord, and the "other" (evil doers, enemies & foes - Psalm 26). However, the Scripture Reading exhorts us to put into practice "the perfect law of freedom" (Jas 1: 22). This freedom is different from what JP Sartre had in mind. It is a freedom which lays down, which gives up, which gives in, and not one which excludes, rejects or alienates. It is a freedom which freely chooses to include, to accept and to embrace. It is a freedom which makes for communitarian living, not just possible, but real and authentic.
So, let us give thanks for the gift of community, a community which we have freely chosen to live in love and harmony, never asking whether you are my "other" but whether you are my brother.
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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Jovita Ho on 6th Sep 2010.
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