My dear friend Mr. Goodsend leads a tenuous, hand-to-mouth existence as a refugee in our city. He likes to spark debate by stating: “Real freedom does not exist.” He means, nobody is free to do whatever he wishes, as our actions are restricted by people’s rights. Laws protect us from the danger of being tossed about by winds of doctrine and human cunning. Laws set limits that cannot be crossed with impunity. Other rules guide behavior by setting standards, like cultural, ethical and moral ones. Every principle is determined by culture, ethos, even religion. While it’s true everyone values Freedom and Peace, their ultimate significance remains subjective and above the monopoly of any dictator or democracy. Freedom is important to everyone, but it is also selective. Freedom for whom? At what price? At whose expense? Peace is equally important to us, but it is also discriminating. Peace for whom? At what price? And again … at what cost?
It stands to reason that we see the world in relation to our background and culture. Where children pick footballers and rockstars as heroes, we should question their education. Where the measure of wealth is only secondary to that of status, we should question society. Where values are dictated by the media, we should question their influence. If we refuse to challenge the inputs received, we can’t change the outputs produced. Mr. Goodsend’s citizenship was revoked by a presidential decree. That is equivalent to ripping a plant from its flowerbed and throwing it, uprooted, into the street. After five miserable years he still believes it was worth it, for he wouldn’t compromise his principles by accepting oppressive tyranny. Most of his friends succumbed in fear, giving in for their life or for their family’s sake. But Mr. Goodsend was different – he had a hero. When he was 14 a veteran family friend inspired him with the strength, courage and resoluteness that ensured his survival through a decade of suffering.
Mr. Goodsend’s hero was a political prisoner in his youth. He was jailed for 30 years for his democratic activism in a country where dissent is brutally repressed. Afterwards, he escaped a security prison where death was the remedy to torture and less than 15% ever emerged alive. He suffered for his ideals, believing in a world that signifies hope. He heralded a vision for which no price was too high: a new era, a new country that had to break into the old for freedom and peace to triumph. True heroes aren’t chained by selfishness, self-importance or self-entitlement. True heroes inspire us beyond what is conventional in this world. They challenge us with an alternative vision inspired by God for the betterment of humanity. Let’s not allow a domesticated lifestyle to extinguish our values and condemn us to passive acceptance. Let’s be encouraged by those people who are passionately inspired by Christ to lay down their lives for others.
From the book of Kings: So King Ahab went to meet the prophet Elijah. When he saw him, he said to Elijah: “Is that you, you trouble-maker of Israel?” Elijah replied: “I have not made trouble for Israel, but you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the storm god Ba’al. Now, summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba’al and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at queen Jezebel’s table. Then, Elijah went before the people of Israel – who hesitated and limped between two beliefs – and asked: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, then follow him. On the other hand, if Ba’al is God, then follow him instead!” Having heard his words, the people had nothing to say.
