ON FREEDOM

I'm not a terribly fast reader. In fact, when I find a good book, I tend to read it even more slowly, savouring every word. 

I'm only on page 30 but already the book On Freedom by Timothy Snyder is turning into a real brain spa.

 A familiar idea in a new context is always exciting to me. May I share this excerpt from Snyder's book about the Golden Rule that I find fascinating.

"For the French philosopher Simone Weil, acknowledging the existence of another was an act of love. For her, loving one's neighbor as oneself meant reading " the same combination of nature and the supernatural " in another person's body that we experience ourselves. 

The Bible also asks us to love" the stranger that dwelleth among you" as we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:34). " To love a stranger as oneself implies," says Weil, " that we love ourselves as strangers." Like many of her formulations, this one is a challenge. It is not just that we do right when we love a stranger. It is that we see ourselves as a stranger might see us, which is what we need to see. When we see ourselves as others see us, we know ourselves better. This is liberating. We experience the restraints of the external world and push against them, in the company of others who are doing the same. We are free when we know in which direction we wish to push and how we can do so."

Her quote reminds me of an experience I had as a practice teacher so many years ago. I was teaching Phys Ed at Emery Collegiate in Toronto. As part of my assignment, I was asked to referee a volleyball game after school. Early in the game, a ball was propelled over the net landing near the baseline.

"In or out?"  a lanky boy called out.

For a moment, I froze. I really wasn't sure where the ball had landed.

"C'mon ref, what is it?" he persisted.

In that moment, I realized that I was viewed as an authority, a facilitator, a judge.

I was putting on a new persona. 

Last week, I had the same experience again. I was called early in the morning to help my friend Ed. He was breathing in a raspy jagged way. Arriving at his bedside, he asked,

" Do you think we should go to the hospital?"

Without hesitation, I answered yes.

I never thought of myself as a lifeline, but in Ed's eyes, that's what I am to him.

Trying on new hats.. that's what makes us more aware of who we really are.