A piece of history, creativity…and freedom

Tonight was my boss’ birthday party, which she held at her own home. She has such a magnetic spirit…so many people were present! She and her family are originally from Poland.

During the course of the evening, the subject of communism came up in our conversations with her husband. At the beginning of the 80s, harsh communist rule in Poland had given way to a mild communism. Though people were no longer arrested and thrown in jail without fair trial for their opinions, certain freedoms were still withheld from them, including certain rights of speech and press. My boss was doing her PhD at that time, working in the more “liberated” environment of academia. Because of this, she had access to certain reading materials that were forbidden to the rest of the population…including newly-released books professing certain “risky” ideas of democracy. Since her husband (a lawyer and history scholar) is a bookworm and an avid proponent of democracy, my boss offered to sneak some of these forbidden books to him. Just as this fact was mentioned, my boss burst into the room with the books in question!

They were all pocket size. They either had smooth leather coverings with nothing written on them, or soft covers with titles of other “acceptable” books. The writing inside was so extremely tiny that it could only be read with a good-quality magnifying glass. Though the pages were yellowed with time, they remained sturdy. The couple’s favourite book was one written about dialogues recorded between a cardinal with democratic ideas and a mild communist sharing the same jail cell. Each of us passed the books around carefully, holding them with awe. We had in our hands a piece of history.

I couldn’t help but admire the creativity that went into smuggling these books. The colours on the covers, the print size, the way my boss obtained… The creativity itself was a reason for joy, wonder and laughter at this party… Yet I’m sure this was no laughing matter at the time. Who would imagine ways like this unless they were under oppression?

How easily we take our freedom of expression and of life for granted. How precious it is! Which one of us could imagine having to do what my boss and her husband had to do to read a book?!? And yet, freedom can also easily be taken away from us, at any time, by any circumstance. We must never underestimate how important it is to safeguard it as a society, and, especially, to use it well, for the good of others, so that it is not taken away.

The human soul was made for freedom. Oppression may mask the soul for a moment; but it is only a mask. The soul eventually shines through with new ideas and solutions. As these are put into practice, the mask falls off, never to be put on again. A soul near its humanity, near its Image of God, cannot not be stifled forever.

Our freedom is a gift of God, a power after His Own Heart. We must never withhold it from anyone else. As we were given, so we give.