Jogeephus
Well-known member
Monday night I shared a few glasses (bottles) of wine with a dear friend from Italy. He is a catholic Brother and for those who are not familiar with this term, these people are not priests as they are not ordained but are laymen who committ their lives to Christ usually by the vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. Anyhow, as we were enjoying the wine he mentioned that his neighbor who they always bought their wine from had recently died and he wished I lived closer so he could purchase wine from me. I chuckled and told him they would put me in jail for selling wine. The subject then moved to what I did with the second wine and he asked if I made (some term I was unfamiliar with) but it was a distilled brandy. Again, I laughed and said they would put me in jail for making brandy. Hearing this Brother went on to ask me WHY I allowed this to affect my life when I am not hurting anyone and my rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness are clearly guaranteed in our constitution and bill of rights. At 72, he is a wise man and has devoted his life to education and he gave me some food for thought which I thought some of you might find as good fodder for the brain. From here, his guidance went something like this.
Liberty is a perception. We are all free to think and do as we please. The limitation to this right lies mainly in where we, as individuals, draw our personal lines. The story of the elephant trainer illustrates my point quite well. The trainer secures the infant elephant with a mighty chain, hitched to a formidable post. As the elephant grows larger,the trainer replaces the chain with a weaker tether, such as rope, secured to a stake. When the elephant is mature, the rope has been replaced with string, tied to a blade of grass. By this time, the elephant is certainly strong enough to escape the string, but has long ago stopped resisting what he first knew as chains. We all have many strings in our lives, tied to blades of grass.
Our right to liberty may also limited by our fear of consequences. Free thinking and free behavior are not always rewarded. Freedom of thought, freedom of behavior, the liberties we cherish so in name, are rarely cherished in action. Yet again, these rights are violated, they are denied, but they are not taken away - afterall, they are clearly set forth in our constitution and our bill of rights.
Just as the government denies the unborn child the right to life, does it not also deny us our right to happiness to barter and sell wine amongst each other? Or make brandy? Surely we are harming no one and both parties enter into this transaction under a consecrated free will, so why is it any of their business? Brother mentioned the Italians also have laws similar to ours prohibiting certain trivial things. And on the contrary, as he pointed out, the Italian mentality provides a simple solution in confronting these laws,"These laws do not apply to me."
Unlike the unborn child, we have a choice. Do we choose to be the elephant tethered to the blade of grass or do we adopt the Italian philosophy and enjoy good wine and conversation?
I found this conversation quite interesting and just thought I'd share it with you folks. Don't know if this is wisdom talking or the wine.
Liberty is a perception. We are all free to think and do as we please. The limitation to this right lies mainly in where we, as individuals, draw our personal lines. The story of the elephant trainer illustrates my point quite well. The trainer secures the infant elephant with a mighty chain, hitched to a formidable post. As the elephant grows larger,the trainer replaces the chain with a weaker tether, such as rope, secured to a stake. When the elephant is mature, the rope has been replaced with string, tied to a blade of grass. By this time, the elephant is certainly strong enough to escape the string, but has long ago stopped resisting what he first knew as chains. We all have many strings in our lives, tied to blades of grass.
Our right to liberty may also limited by our fear of consequences. Free thinking and free behavior are not always rewarded. Freedom of thought, freedom of behavior, the liberties we cherish so in name, are rarely cherished in action. Yet again, these rights are violated, they are denied, but they are not taken away - afterall, they are clearly set forth in our constitution and our bill of rights.
Just as the government denies the unborn child the right to life, does it not also deny us our right to happiness to barter and sell wine amongst each other? Or make brandy? Surely we are harming no one and both parties enter into this transaction under a consecrated free will, so why is it any of their business? Brother mentioned the Italians also have laws similar to ours prohibiting certain trivial things. And on the contrary, as he pointed out, the Italian mentality provides a simple solution in confronting these laws,"These laws do not apply to me."
Unlike the unborn child, we have a choice. Do we choose to be the elephant tethered to the blade of grass or do we adopt the Italian philosophy and enjoy good wine and conversation?
I found this conversation quite interesting and just thought I'd share it with you folks. Don't know if this is wisdom talking or the wine.
