Francis Gonsalves

Delhi’s Tihar Ashram is Asia’s largest jail with some 12,000 captives held for offences ranging from petty theft to multiple murders. For its inmates, Tihar is obviously a jail; but, besides being a getaway from academics and administration that fetter me, my weekly visits to Tihar teach me that freedom is more a matter of the mind, than of the bind.
Remember that 1966 film with its theme song Born Free? It featured Elsa the lioness who, with other beasts and birds, roams the jungle with unbridled freedom. But, birds and beasts aren’t really free since they’re programmed to do what they do. You’re neither likely to find a lioness turning vegetarian for religious reasons nor a rooster seeking vengeance because you cooked its offspring. With these, life is a matter of instinct, not introspection; need, not greed. But, created “in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26), you and I are truly born free. God gifts us freedom as the finest of gifts.
“Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains”, reads the opening line of Rousseau’s masterpiece, The Social Contract, that envisioned freedom for society at large. Likewise, the Bible tells of “The Religious Covenant” catalysed by God who, through Moses, promised his people: “I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery” (Exodus 6:6). Unfortunately, once freed from slavery, God’s people lapsed into self-imprisonment.
Being “freed from” captivity is but the first step in the long road to freedom. India gained political freedom long ago. But, I ask myself: Am I really free? One can get enslaved by “phantoms of the past” with a nostalgic “those were the days” glorification of the past. Freed from slavery and miraculously fed manna (bread) on their journey, God’s ungrateful people looked back and complained: “‘If only we had meat to eat!’ We remember the fish we’d eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the onions and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there’s nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Numbers 11:4-6).
Jesus began his public life with a prophesy: “God’s Spirit has sent me to proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 4:18). By “captives” he didn’t mean those locked in jails, but those enslaved by the past and future, fettered by false securities and tenuous traditions. To those who tenaciously clung to tradition and mistrusted his words, Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you’ll know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. Angered, they boasted, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” (John 8:32-33). To the likes of these, Jesus said, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Matthew 3:9).
Apart from “phantoms of the past” being enslaving, one can get fettered by the future, fearful about what it will bring. Jesus cautioned about fear of the future: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear… for, God, your Father, knows that you need these things. Instead, strive for God’s kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Luke 12:22-31). The love of money, too, can be enslaving. Hence, the letter to the Hebrews warns: “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for God has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’” (13:5).
“For freedom Christ has set us free”, writes Saint Paul (Galatians 5:1), and exhorts believers: “Not to submit to a yoke of slavery”. It’s so easy to get mired by maya mirages of this samsara. Thus, one must go deeper and higher to attain truth and encounter God.
Indic religions propose mukti — from the Sanskrit muc, meaning, to set free — as the final goal of life, while the Abrahamic religions speak of heaven or eternal life. Together, let’s celebrate the forthcoming Independence Day with Tagore’s prayer: “Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!”

— Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. He is involved in interfaith dialogue and peoples’ initiatives for fostering justice, harmony and peace. He can be contacted at fragons@gmail.com