I am writing this on New Year's Eve. It is a time when we look back at the past year and forward to new beginnings in the year to come. We start counting calories again, trying to kick that pesky habit, praying more, giving more away, finally paying off that credit card. It is a time of transition and new hopes.
I was reminded of many of my own hopes just a few days ago on Christmas. Danielle's parents gave us the new Garth Brooks box set. Danielle and I absolutely love Garth Brooks. Not only did his music serve as a soundtrack to our adolescence, but he is from our home state and also went to Oklahoma State University (interestingly enough he threw the javelin for the track and field team). A few weeks ago we watched his television special live from Las Vegas and enjoyed every minute of it.
As we were listening to this new box set, hearing him cover the songs of other artists that influenced him as well as listening to his greatest hits of his own as well, we listened to one of my favorites of his that I hadn't heard in a few years. It is called "We Shall Be Free." He wrote this song in the early nineties to express his concern over hunger, freedom of speech, homelessness, homophobia, racism, environmentalism, and freedom of religion. He would go on to perform this song not only on his regular tours, but as a part of events like "Equality Rocks," a gay rights march in Washington D.C. This song has been a part of Brooks's support for the LGBT community, which comes from his deep love for his older sister, Betty, who passed away just last month of cancer. Brooks supported his sister, an open lesbian in the not-so-accepting world of country music, and bucked the Nashville trend by being very vocal in his support. I recognize that my mentioning that opens up a big can of worms, but don't let it distract you; "We Shall Be Free" is about that, but it is about much more than that as well.
The reason I bring this song up is that it encompasses many of my hopes and dreams as well. It recognizes the truth of the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he said, "No one is free until we are all free." My prayer for 2014 is that all people, led by people of Christian faith, will cast off the garments of prejudice, ignorance, condemnation, and self-righteousness and instead clothe ourselves in the garments of peace, love, justice, and mercy, recognizing that when we read the gospels we see that whenever Jesus was forced to choose between the holiness code and the mercy of God, he always chose the mercy of God. May we follow his example in this blessed and peaceful New Year.
Peace,
Everett
"We Shall be Free" by Garth Brooks
This ain't comin' from no prophet
Just an ordinary man
When I close my eyes I see
The way this world shall be
When we all walk hand in hand
When the last child cries for a crust of bread
When the last man dies for just words that he said
When there's shelter over the poorest head
We shall be free
When the last thing we notice is the color of skin
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within
When the skies and the oceans are clean again
Then we shall be free
We shall be free
We shall be free
Stand straight, walk proud
'Cause we shall be free
When we're free to love anyone we choose
When this world's big enough for all different views
When we all can worship from our own kind of pew
Then we shall be free
We shall be free
We shall be free
Have a little faith
Hold out
'Cause we shall be free
And when money talks for the very last time
And nobody walks a step behind
When there's only one race and that's mankind
Then we shall be free
We shall be free
We shall be free
Stand straight, walk proud, have a little faith, hold out
We shall be free
We shall be free
We shall be free
Stand straight, have a little faith
We shall be free
