A Reflection on Slavery
by LewisI was fairly young when I first heard someone say, “The only way to be free is to be a slave.” The person saying this was someone I trusted, but I didn’t understand what he meant. Let me correct that — I understood all the words, but I didn’t understand how his statement could be applied in my life, or in anyone else’s life, for that matter.
The idea that to be free you must be a slave is what is known as a paradox. My first encounter with that word was in the old joke, “What do you get when you put Dr. Harrell and Dr. Brickman together?” The answer, of course, is “a pair o’ docs.” Eventually I grasped the real definition of paradox as a seemingly self-contradictory statement that when understood proves to be true.
Being a slave to be free certainly fits that. I had read Huckleberry Finn, and I knew that Jim was running away from slavery because slavery was bad. I also knew that Jim eventually got caught by a “slave catcher,” and that Uncle Silas (who would be Jim’s master) was the embodiment of evil. So why would I want to be a slave, and how could that make me free?
Paul writes about this in several of his letters, including a passage in Ephesians we examined in part last Sunday. I’ll come back to this topic, but for now let the paradox of being made free by becoming a slave roll around in your mind and in your heart.
Tags: freedom, Huckleberry Finn, paradox, slavery
May 14th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I was just listening to Leonard Cohen’s song, “Closing Time.” There’s a line in there that relates to this: “looks like freedom and it feels like death.” The whole song is a peppy illustration of the destruction that ensues when you aren’t a slave.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
And most people are slaves, but the question is, to what? Or to whom? Can we choose our slavery? If so, do we choose it based on the freedom that particular slavery provides?
Time to write my follow-up post….
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Great question. I don’t think anyone is free. Even the hermit in the cabin is shackled to his small plot, bounded against the population around him.
Some kinds of slavery are inherited or inflicted on us — actual human bondage and diseases are two I can think of. Even in those two instances, one could choose to act as though one were not enslaved, although the consequences in both cases could be fatal.
But most slavery is a choice, and “based on the freedom that particular slavery provides” is a brilliant way to put it, Lewis. Some people say, “Pick your poison.”