For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. – Nelson Mandela.
These past few days, my misfit mystic musing has been on:
In days to come, the mountain of God’s house shall be established on the highest mountains… All the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord… That he may teach us his ways, that we may walk in his paths.”… He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:3)
When the Hebrew prophets got to thinking about God’s incoming kingdom—and make no mistake—they did plenty of mystic musing about that. High on the agenda was the aspiration of freedom and peace. This is hardly surprising when you consider that the absence of both is very much part of the Israelites’ storyline.
If you’ve been smashed to smithereens by just about every man and his dog! Small wonder that the impossible dream of freedom from slavery, and the innate desire to live in peace, become foundational to your myth story and identity.
The audaciousness of the passage above is that it was written during a period of intense and ultimately devastating uncertainty. The last two remaining tribes of ancient Israel are under siege and will soon get entirely decimated and marched off into slavery once again.
But the prophets were nothing if not audacious dreamers. Their mystical vision is all about a great reversal. Given the circumstances, this could only come from big dreamers. Not only would little Judah be free and at peace. But all the worldly powers would come flocking to her Holy Mountain, to get the Divine brief, directly from God, about the art of living in freedom and peace. There is, however, a precursor. They must convert all weapons of war and oppression into instruments of peace and freedom for all. There are no get out clauses here. This is the Divine deal.
Neither did this dream die with the biblical prophets. I’m old enough to remember another great dreamer, perhaps the greatest American who has ever lived, Martin Luther King Jr. I can think of no better prophet of our time. My very soul moves and my old heart weeps when a listen to him proclaim the self-same vision from the self-same spiritual mountain top:
“I’ve been to the mountain top; I’ve seen the promised land… My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” – Martin Luther King Jr. It just doesn’t get any better than that, comrades.