You Can’t Put Light In A Box: Freedom’s Promise On A Dark Day

Last updated on: January 10, 2015 at 11:15 pm by Tara Edelschick

You Can’t Put Light In A Box: Freedom’s Promise On A Dark Day 2015-01-10T23:15:40-07:00 Tara Edelschick

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

On Thursday, while there were still two young men terrorizing my neighborhood, I was in Virginia with all three kids. We spent the day at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. Near the end of the day, we took an hour-long tour of the estate which focused on slave life at the plantation and Washington’s changing understanding of the institution. Washington is a hero of ours, and hearing how he transitioned from an eleven year-old slave owner to a man who ultimately came to see slavery as wrong and who freed his slaves at the end of his life was powerful. And yet, as the president of the Constitutional Convention and faced with southern states who would not ratify the constitution without accommodations made for slavery, Washington said that if he had to chose between ending slavery and preserving the union, he would choose the union.

A man who spent his life fighting for the principle that “all men are created are equal” wasn’t able to uphold that principle for the black men who laid down their lives fighting alongside him. But, as our guide said as she ended our tour, “You can’t put words like that in a box.”

Let that rattle around in your spirit for a minute. You can’t put words like that in a box.

I woke up yesterday prepared to head home to Cambridge. I wanted to be at home – with Jeff, with my friends and neighbors, with my city. Then we heard the news that there was a terrorist on the loose. We packed the car and started for home, wondering if we would make it all the way.

We stopped in DC to visit the National Archive and see the Declaration of Independence, the very document that had inspired Washington and that he ultimately failed to uphold. As we bent over the parchment, I had tears in my eyes. This document inspired a man to leave his home and beloved wife for more than half of their forty years of marriage. This document inspired the enslaved people who escaped from his home. Those words have inspired countless others for more than two centuries. And they likely inspired the immigrant family whose sons ultimately chose to deny it’s powerful truth that all people are endowed by their Creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Whatever those young mens’ intentions, though, you can’t put words like that in a box.

Before leaving town, we stopped at the MLK memorial. In his I Have a Dream speech, he called the Declaration of Independence a promissory note. He saw the evils of oppression all around, but he never lost faith in the promise of that great document. Rephrasing a quote from a 19th century abolitionist, King confidently reminded the country that, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

His monument looks out across the tidal basin at the monument to Jefferson, author of the promissory Declaration. Those men and their words form a conversation that spans time and triumphs over circumstance.

As I drove home yesterday, the kids kept asking if we were going to make it all the way home. I told them that I didn’t know if we would make it all the way home to Daddy that night. But eventually, one way or another, in this life or the next, we would absolutely make it all the way home. My lack of fear was surprising for me, but I was unusually confident of the words written two thousand years ago by a friend of Jesus: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Terrorism and oppression and even death have no power over the truth of that. Those words are louder than bombs. You can’t kill them, and you can’t scare them off. You can’t put light in a box.

Uncategorized

Boston bombings

declaration of Independence

fear

freedom

Previous Post

April 17, 2013

Boston Is A Small World

Next Post

April 24, 2013 Ninety Percent Nicer: Homeschooling Children With Disabilities

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Reflections on "Mind In The Making" by Ellen Galinsky Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz