Count Your Freedoms

I was recently with a group of children and parents presenting a program on the symbols of the Passover Seder.  I had asked them to imagine being in ancient Egypt as an Israelite slave.  I conjured up some scorching hot weather, task-masters, raw materials and some context as we began to engage in our ‘very mild re-enactment’ of this slavery experience for only a moment.  I cannot say for sure that my audience was able to be in that place at all or for very long, but I must say that taking some time before and after the program to think about slavery, was for me significant in terms of trying to really ‘get it’!!  Grasp that your time is not your time, it is someone else’s entirely; grasp that you are hungry, tired, scared and aching all of the time; grasp that you are not certain you will see your loved ones regularly or ever; grasp that socializing with friends, going on a walk, running around playing is a wisp of a dream or memory; grasp that you may forever feel hopeless … it is surely a horrific place to be.  Sadly, slavery is still a place that exists in our modern world (Free the Slaves is an organization working to end slavery.  See the discussion about disposable people therein, it is heart-breaking.).

 

This Passover let us count our freedoms [eg.  Loving family and friends, Education, Opportunity, Fresh air and sunshine, Ease of getting around, Time to wonder and wander,  Trust in others, Secureness, Warmth, and so much more… ].  Let us remember how blessed we are.  Let us renew our commitment to seek justice as we open the door to Elijah the prophet, our symbol of hope, and strive to make our communities and world open their eyes to change for the good of the most vulnerable amongst us.  May yours be a blessed and rejuvenating Passover/Spring festival.