Now We Are Free

"For man always seeks a happiness far beyond that which is meted out to him. But man's greatness consists in the very fact of wanting to be better than he is. In laying duties upon himself. In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no grandeur to be won, inasmuch as there all is an established hierarchy, the unknown is revealed, existence is infinite, there is no possibility of sacrifice, all is rest and joy. For this reason, bowed down by suffering and duties, beautiful in the midst of his misery, capable of loving in the face of afflictions and trials, man finds his greatness, his fullest measure, only in the Kingdom of this World.”
 ― Alejo Carpentier, The Kingdom of this World

The contrast of slavery and freedom really illustrates this concept. When we think of slaves we think often of oppressed humble people who were once happy villagers living a simple life and who are now just lowered one notch below there social norm to being slaves. And how sad that is. I think that we are missing something here. Not all slaves were happy little villagers, some slaves were the warriors and leaders of their societies.

A prime example of this is the movie Gladiator. The main character, Maximus, was not a simple minded villager, he was royalty. But he was made into a slave. The story is super epic as he fights all the way to the roman Colosseum.

I think there is a difference between submission, humility, and meekness vs. living below your potential, slavery, loss of freedom, and captivity. I think the difference is faith, hope, and love.

Submission, humility, and meekness are positive attitudes. They imply self control, love, and trust, looking forward to a brighter day. But the opposite which seems so similar is actually negative, degrading, breaks trust, and denies agency. It causes man to be chained down as they lose hope of a brighter day. Maximus is the epitome of this kind of a situation. 

He was once royalty with all the freedom, rights, and opportunities that come with it. But then he lost his freedom, rights, liberty, he was degraded to being a slave. He was made to be less than he really could be. He lost everything. He lost his family, his lifestyle, everything. But he did not lose himself, he did not lose who he really was. Inside of himself he was still the same man, he was still free. He humbled himself and meekly took on the situation. He did so by perservering and not giving in to the easier ways out. He submitted himself to the situation and thereby took control of his own life. He allowed love of his family and freedom to motivate him with the hope and faith that he would one day be reunited with them if he held on and fought faithfully to the end.

In this final scene of Gladiator the warrior Maximus dies in the arena. But he lives on to be reunited with his family in the kingdom of heaven as it were, where there is no grandeur to be won, existence is infinite, all is rest and joy.

Unity through Rhythm

Music is a tool used to create unity in many cultures

For instance, in Europe, music played on the bagpipes and drums was used to unite an army in battle.





The foundation of this music is the beat or the rhythm of the drums. Marking out the march of the soldiers. Thumping and pumping the adrenaline through their veins.













 In the American Civil War the drum was also used in battle to unify troops under the commanding officer. To provide direction and orders to the troops while they were in combat.
Even our marching bands today have a drum line to unify our schools during football games and other sporting events.


They drum in Africa.









 They drum in Latin America.

Music cultivates unity between people, but it also cultivates unity within a person. 
Dance. When you hear certain types of music it makes you want to move. This movement is called dance or dancing. There are many forms of dance, for instance in class we discussed forms of Latin American dance like Samba.



Have you ever noticed how when people dance really well they are able to move their body in really amazing ways that you wouldn't other be able to do unless you were dancing? The body can move in dance in very fluid, flowing, rhythmic, coordinated, or in other words UNIFIED motions. I feel like dance is an outward expression of how music unifies your body with the rhythm that is going on inside.

Another example of this is a form of "dance" that is not as commonly known as dance is also a major point of unity, especially in Latin America, as well as many other countries. This form of dance is called soccer.




Do you notice how the principles behind dance and soccer are really similar?

Why is it that music unifies the body? 

The heart beat!!! It is the basic rhythm of the human body. Listen to this!



So I conclude that the basic rhythm of the body is also found in music, especially Latin American music, dancing music.

"I told you Maria Candelaria doesn't talk to anybody. Nobody socializes with her because of you know what." (The film, Maria Candelaria)

THE WHOLE TOWN PRETTY MUCH HATES MARIA CANDELARIA!!!!!
I think the town people and I have the same problem.

It is hard for me to see Maria Candelaria as a savior symbol. Even though it does make sense when I think about it, it's still hard for me to see her that way because I know that she is being played by Dolores Del Rio, who was a sex symbol of her day. She was promiscuous.She wasn't like Jesus.

Now that I think about it tho, the whole reason that Maria was killed was because the people couldn’t see Maria as being anything like the Savior. They could not find the Christ-like qualities in her. They did not see her in infinity they saw her in totality. They turned her into an object in their minds. They saw her as "the prostitutes daughter" and as soon as they believed she had done something that a prostitute would do they killed her for it. even though she was totally innocent and she was actually a victim of the whole situation.

Her story actually makes me think of a story in the Bible, John chapter 8. A woman was taken while she was in the act of adultery and she was about to be stoned to death for it. She was saved from this awful death when Jesus told her accusers this "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (John 8:7)
https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/go-and-sin-no-more?lang=eng

Who are we ready to stone? Are there people that we see or think of and judge them? Who do we stone to death in our society today?

When you think of Marilyn Monroe what do you think of?
Probably something like this?







The half closed glazed over sensual eyes, and the slightly open lips that look like she just finished kissing someone?







Why don’t we ever think of this, this is Marilyn Monroe as a child.

Quotes from Marilyn Monroe:

"A sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing."

"Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered."

"I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent."

"The thing I want more than anything else? I want to have children. I used to feel for every child I had, I would adopt another."

Do we stone Marilyn Monroe?







Here is another example… a more modern one.

Can you guess who this is?

This little girl in recent years has said this: "I'm really insecure about everything. I see what I look like, but there are things that I like and things that I dislike. My hair is good. The color of my eyes is good, obviously. I'm too short. But overall, I'm not super excited about the whole thing. I never think I'm worthy of anything... I have a sick feeling of being mocked all the time. I have a lot of self-loathing. Self-loathing doesn't keep me from being happy. But that doesn't mean I don't struggle. I am very vulnerable."

Who is this?

This is Megan Fox.

Do we stone Megan Fox? Do we stone her for the person we think "we know” that she is?
I don't know...but I think that we do. Just something to think about.

I believe that we need to see people in infinity. We need to recognize the Savior-like qualities in everyone and we need to help magnify those qualities.