“Use Well Thy Freedom”

I grew up in Swarthmore, PA, a small Quaker town just outside of Philadelphia. My grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles and some of my cousins all went to Swarthmore College. We are all birthright Quakers raised with its values. There is a stone on the main building at the College, Parrish Hall, that reads, USE WELL THY FREEDOM. When one stops to think about this phrase, itraps our knuckles and calls us to our senses; it offers eternal truths if you look carefully enough. It demands self-reflection-without self-absorption.

To wit, I have 2 radical left friends who get very emotional and hysterical over their hatred of Trump. Interestingly enough, both women are starting to ask questions surrounding the shutting down of businesses, “How are these businesses supposed to survive? How are individuals supposed to survive? This is awful!” Yes – now they are asking, maybe reflecting?

I respond carefully, “I don’t know.”

“Things don’t make sense,” they say.

I respond, “I know, it hasn’t made sense for a long time.”

Then I get a flash of anger from them, “You are a conspiracy person!” “No, I do the research. I don’t believe what the news channels say because all of them have major biases.”

They agree and then they say, “How do you know?”

I answer, “I follow each article back to see where the information comes from and who owns the companies/corporations who control that newsfeed.”

They say, “I don’t do that, it’s too much work.”

“Yes, it takes time to do that,” I say.  

What I would like to say is that I think this country is WORTH THE WORK it takes to protect our Constitution, but I stay silent on that. If I were to say it, they would turn off. At least now the two are “thinking” and saying over and over, “Nothing makes sense.” USE WELL THY FREEDOM raps our knuckles, calls us to our senses for self-reflection without self-absorption. Perhaps their knuckles are starting to burn?