Exclusively Our Own



Norman Rockwell-"Freedom of Worship"



Exclusively our own:

The way we walk, talk, the  clothes we wear, the books we read and those we don’t all define and tell others who we are. Our jobs, professions and vocations are perhaps even greater markers of ourselves. The greatest of defining elements in our lives is probably our commitment to a faith/religion or the non-practice or participation in any recognizable or organized religion. We are what we believe. It is also a great thing that we can believe in any way we choose, any faith. We can also not believe in anything if that is what we choose. Free will is a wonderful thing. Our personal life’s journeys can unfold and take us to whatever place we choose or whatever destination is revealed to us.

The world’s three great religions all have a common beginning; Abraham. In that we are all brothers but like all brothers we do disagree. We have little spats that grow sometimes into major out of control disputes. We have to learn to think that maybe the other guy does have a point and he is also committed to his beliefs. Many times he is more dedicated to his faith than we to our own but let’s work it out and at least respect each other. God; almighty is so vast, so massive, so beyond even our comprehension that we dare to limit him with our pettiness in an attempt at knowing the unknowable. We then try to force the other guy into following us. I have no doubt that we can know some part of the divine and that part is unique to us as individuals while at the same time it is collective (we sometimes agree). There is one God. The God that created the universe and has given us the greatest gift; the gift of life and the capacity to appreciate it’s richness and beauty along with the many difficulties. Life is the great challenge and the great joy. We pray to him and call to him with different names and he answers in turn.

Norman Rockwell-"The Four Freedoms"

“The Four Freedoms” were a series of paintings done by Norman Rockwell in 1941. They were taken from FDR’s State of the Union Address to congress. The freedoms that Roosevelt spoke of were considered by him to be essential human rights. Freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear were the freedoms addressed by Roosevelt. It is without question that Rockwell’s interpretations will be considered dated. A contemporary artist would express these sentiments very differently from Rockwell. The irony is that there is probably no contemporary artist that would desire to execute such a series today. This in spite of the current “Occupy Movements” and in light of the worldwide protesters seeking these very freedoms.

We continually seek and in doing so continually find. Let us both seek and find that part of the eternal that we can embrace and know in our lives through faith.