Freedom within Oppression

I attended a youth rally this evening.

The man who spoke was named Kelly Green. He was one of the most honest men I've ever heard speak to teenagers, and I've heard quite a few. He was direct, he didn't cut corners or play word games. He made fun of himself and his fellow christians in those moments when we act absurd and earn the derision of others. He made honesty out of his own story, and his own story is certainly not easy to tell.

And he did it all in jeans and a print button down, looking like a relaxed Hawaiian tourist.

He said somethings that I really liked.

Before he spoke, someone else sang a solo (that was, I must admit, kindof awful) but it got me thinking about freedom.

Assume for a moment that absolute freedom is simply the absence of any oppresion.

This leads to an immediate statement: Freedom does not by nature imply progression. Just because you leave something alone doesn't mean it will grow. You can put a weight on a plant and limit its growth, but if you place the same weight on a rock, it won't limit the growth of the rock. In the same sense, taken the weight off the rock will not spurn it to grow suddenly.

Progression comes via personal ambition, not just freedom to pursue what we wish.

Secondly, if freedom allows for easier progression (less energy need be expended for progress to be made) than the strongest character is the one who progresses in the absense of freedom. That is, when his oppression is hampering his development, and he still strives to progress, then he is expending more energy and demonstrating more strength than one who advances in the absence of any oppression at all.

So my question is this: why do we so often dread oppression or trial? Is it not simply a chance to prove ourselves. To test the mettle of our making, and discover what we are truely worth?

I'll leave you with this--when Kelly spoke, he talked of his conversion, and said that he was 'seeking for things he didn't have: Forgiveness, Peace, Purpose, and a Reason to Live'. That's an appropriate list, I think. Those are concepts worth seeking.