Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/70

Contributor - J. J. Opmeer

Title - Freedom- A Precious Gift

Topic - Freedom

Twenty-five years ago . . .

As a boy I have witnessed what it means not to be free. The sight of people doomed by the mark of the star of David. The tension of bombings in Rotterdam. The shock of seeing people shot dead out of revenge. The misery o! hunger trips with my father anc[ brother. The terror of an out-of-control German V-1, ready for its hellish downward plunge. And a thousand and one other impressions, too vivid to be erased by a merciful memory.

I was too young to know much of the visions of a new society, a new church also, shared by many during those dark years under the German heel. Too young to know that for many freedom was a heady young wine which they had longed to taste again, and the thought of which had kept them going. But I was old enough to sense the new order of life spelled by freedom when the Canadian tanks rolled in, topped by laughing young men. And I vividly remember what freedom meant for me, happy people dancing and jumping in the streets, soldiers allowing yo u to sit on their tank and giving you chocolate, Dutch flags waving in the wind, and something in the air which had not been there for a long time. It was like a new birth.

All that is twenty-five years ago. A whole new generation has grown up in the meantime, without personal memories of the terrors of a world-war, without fear for what an ideology can do to a human being. I myself belong to a generation which, although it has not quite shared in the mental, moral and spiritual agonies of the war years, at least has seen what took place. And through reading and reflection it has understood that the liberation was far more than a national event. It was a liberation from a devilish force, set in motion by human reason cut loose from God, and stripping man of all freedom to be human. As a result, many of that generation are rather cautious when it comes to handling that precious gift of freedom. And - occasionally they are truly mindful of the blessings of living in a free country which, I believe, is as true in Canada as anywhere else in the world.

But there is also another spirit at large in our time. A spirit which makes many wonder whether twenty-five years may be too long a period to retain the lessons learned through the bitter experiences of an older generation. I certainly do not want to point the finger only at the young. To be sure, they are in the news the most, especially those who play with the fire of freedom-without-restraint, enjoying the fruits but forgetting the roots of the post-war free democratic tradition. As if never anything happened before! But also the older generation. It has allowed a deterioration of inner freedom in many areas of life. It has gone through a 'religious boom' in the post-war period without, on the whole, tapping the river of living water of the God whose Truth alone is big enough to set man free. It has lost the vision of the best of the war generation, and has on the whole been satisfied with the fruits of a rising standard of living. It has brilliantly demonstrated the mastery of mind over matter in the various sciences, only to discover that it has sometimes come dangerously close to creating the 'beast of the abyss'. Fears of many kinds make the thought of freedom a mockery for many.

We must realize - young and old alike - that freedom is a precious gift that we must watch over with the greatest care. That the evil forces from which we were liberated twenty-five years ago are still prowling around seeking to snatch the gift away from us. These forces are outside of us and within us. They promise us total freedom if we only follow them. In reality they will bring chaos and slavery, as they never failed to do before. Freedom without-control betrays those who gave their lives because they saw what was at stake. Such freedom has completely forgotten of what it was liberated at one time, and has no future, because it does not know whereto it is free. Our liberation was a gift. Somebody else did it for us. A beautiful parallel, this, to the inner freedom which is a gift of God. And to receive the gift is to be made its steward. We are responsible to use freedom and to cultivate the ground which feeds its roots, rather than picking some of the fruits that taste best, and neglecting the tree.

I hope that the whole Dutch-Canadian community will be alert enough to probe a little deeper than a glad thank-you to Canada, and a marvelous gift at Ottawa. We are glad, and we do have good reasons to celebrate. But gratitude has a dimension of responsibility and commitment. The visions of a new society and of a new church - have we allowed them to rest in the graves of those who brought the greatest sacrifice in order to make their fulfilment possible? Isn't it particularly the young generation that must catch this vision? And then in such a way that they benefit from the experience of those dark hours of human history. Let us all honor the precious gift. Let the very celebration deepen in all of us the commitment to true freedom, which cannot exist without the worship of God who always calls us out of slavery into the freedom of serving Him. That our hearts be full of thanks to God who offers us all the most beautiful freedom known to mankind: the freedom of the children of God.

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