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Pray for America

Freedom

And an orator said, 'Speak to us of Freedom.'

And he answered:

At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,

Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.

Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?

In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.

And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?

If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.

You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.

And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride?

And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.

And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.

These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.

And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.

And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

Kahlil Gibran

“You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.”

I love Kahlil Gibran’s poetry..Thank you, Lady, for posting this

Thanks for all the lovely pings! I’ve been checking and enjoying , just too busy to reply.

I’ve been canning beans and what few maters we’ve managed to grow. :) Got about 30 quarts of beans, one gal of tomatoes so far.

The new gbaby is a month old already—where did it go?

Both my sisters and my niece and nephews were down for the weekend. My mom came over and we ate—a lot :)—and walked on the beach and lazed around.

Can’t take too much of freeper besides you guys and the gardening thread and swampsniper’s bird pics. It’s just too depressing. I find my life is much better if I play ostrich. I know the bad things are out there, but I can’t do anything about most of them anyway. I have enough to take care of with family and work and the garden and...

The DC freepathon sounds great, and we’re having a teaparty here in Morehead City NC on the 4th. I have to work but may make it late in the afternoon. :)

Anyway, y’all, thanks for brightening my days!

Have a great week!

Awe inspiring eagles/freedom post/ping!!