Dear God/ess, When I think of freedom, the anarchist /saint Ammon Hennacy, pictured here, comes to mind: when he spent seven months in solitary confinement, because he refused to fight in World War I.
Ammon was a family friend, and my mother’s spiritual teacher. He was born in Salt Lake City just like an old dog of mine,
beloved, Boop-A-Doop. He was a brave and honest man, and he had the capacity to make my mother truly happy when she was
in his presence.
His natural inquisitiveness was refreshing, yet he did not question to excess. He had just the right balance of question, non-question, acceptance of what is, non-acceptance of hypocrisy and the incongruencies of American society.
Ammon first came to our house in the late fifties and jolted us out of the slumbering and sleeping lifestyle of our contemporaneity, and into a wakeful state. He was a composite of the Peace Pilgrim, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Jesus. He walked the streets and back roads of America with leatherless shoes and refused to pay the war tax.
His mantra-like motto was “change yourself, and you change the world”.
His great expose’ of prison life was that freedom was in the mind and not outside the bars of oppression. The inner life held the answer to freedom, to expansive thought, to the understanding and fulfillment of the collective unconscious, by way of the Christ consciousness-- “the kingdom of god is within.”
The tall man from Salt Lake City was as free as a rooster crowing in the predawn spring morn, as free as the
limitless mind expanding and reaching for that elusive moment of clarity given to Ammon while in solitary confinement, contemplating the Sermon On The Mount, and realizing he had to also love the warden in order to be free.
Om, Peace, Amen
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Ammon has a beautiful glint in his eye - at least I see it even in this black and white photo. Thank you for sharing this today, there is much for us to learn from his life lessons and yours.
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Dear Kate,
Many years ago I found a book " Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. He was a prisoner of war and also a brilliant psychiatrist. He observed that those who held out and survived the terrible occurrences in the concentration camps had this in common...that they would find meaning in their experiences of suffering the most awful and indescribable things.
In this small book he also addressed the issue, like your mother's dear friend, that freedom and liberty were very different. We have freedom even if our liberty is totally limited by any circumstance. It could be anything that keeps us from movement in our body or in some situation of life. We have the freedom to think any be free by what we think and how we derive meaning from that thinking.
Ammon found freedom and we have that promise too.
This morning I was reading and looking for things that I needed to integrate into my own healing and thinking and came across this quote.."With extreme hardship comes the opportunity to make fundamental changes in who we are".
Change oneself and change the world, yes this is the key isn't it.
The kingdom of heaven is within us. We already have what we need.
Hugs and love,
Barbara Grace
So appropriate to use Victor Frankl in relation to this post as his books have shaped the direction of many men and women in their "search for meaning"!
John Sitton´s last blog ..Holley wrote a new blog post: Squidoo Lens Luau Contest February 8-12, 2010
I admire and respect any person who "stands firm" upon what they truly believe, come what may, and whether I agree with them or not. Freedom of thought and the spirit of convictions cannot be shackled by the laws or actions of man. And to love... and forgive conquers Kings and paupers alike.
John Sitton´s last blog ..Holley wrote a new blog post: Squidoo Lens Luau Contest February 8-12, 2010
Yes, Ammon was a towering figure, both physically and spiritually, in my childhood. I loved the feeling of freedom he brought to our household. He and my dear mom stayed up late into the night, discussing Life, philosophy and --of course (if you knew my mom) metaphysics.
I also loved it that my dad did not have a jealous bone in his body, and he knew that Ammon's (platonic) friendship was precious to my mother. Nor did my mother ever question any of my father's friendships. But my parents were so inseparable, we were all happy to see expansive, happy fun that included people like Ammon and may I add, Dorothy Day, one of the founders of The Catholic Worker here in America and another close friend of Ammon. They were Rebel Nonconformist types. And all tied in to the Roman Catholic Church, too, which was also good for my mom, because she rejected the church of her youth.
Ammon helped her to embrace the parts of the church she truly loved.
Oh yes, Victor Frankl. It is hard to imagine ever complaining again after reading that book, isn't it?
And making fundamental change in who we are in the light of hardship --I think we are stripped naked in such times, and we become who we are supposed to be--nothing more, nothing less!!
We are all One under the eyes of God/ess--why can we not give that same gift to one another?
Of course, we can, if we become aware of the simplicity of such a noble and humble gesture
kate
what a great piece of writing. i just mentioned ammon, to a cousin, last week, he is now jamming our circuitry. man's search is all about becoming the goddess, and woman's search is about becoming god. it is nice to see that you are on your way.
peace and love
tomaso
Yes, we are ALL on our way!!