Freedom Time
by Lauryn Hill
Everybody knows that they're guilty,
Everybody knows that they've lied
Everybody knows that they're guilty,
yes resting on their conscience, eating their insides.
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now,
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now.
Time to get free, oh give yourselves up now,
it's freedom, said it's freedom time
There's a war in the mind over territory for the dominion
Who will dominate the opinion, schisms and -isms
Keeping us in forms of religion,
conforming our vision to the world church's decision
Trapped in a section, submitted to committee election
Moral infection, epidemic lies and deception
Insurrection of the highest possible order
Distorting our tape recorders from hearing like under water
Beyond the borders fond of sin and disorder,
bound by the strategy of systemic depravity
Heavy as gravity, head-first in the cavity without a bottom
A fate worse than Sodom
What's got 'em drunk off the spirits,
truth comes we can't hear it
'when you've been programmed to fear it
I had a vision I was falling in indecision,
appalling, calling religion some program on television
How could dominant wisdom be recognized
in a system of antichrists and majority rules
Intelligent fools, PhDs in illusion,
masters of mass confusion, bachelors of past delusion
Now who you choosin, the head or the tail
The bloodshed of the male, or confidence in the veil
Conferences at Yale discussing doctrines of Baal,
causing people to fail, keeping the third in jail
His word has nailed everything to the tree,
severing all of me from all that I used to be
Formless and void, totally paranoid,
enjoyed darkness as Lord, keeping me from the sword,
I was blocked from mercy, bitter than cerasee
hungry and thirsty for good meat
we would eat and still dine at the table of deceit
How incomplete
From confrontation to retreat,
we prolonged the true enemies' defeat
Destitute of necessity
Causing desperation to get the best of me
Punishment till there was nothing left of me,
realizing the unescapable death of me
No options in the valley of decision
The only doctrine supernatural circumcision
Inwardly only water can purge the heart from words
The fiery darts thrown by the workers of the arts
Iniquity, shapen in, there's no escaping
when your whole philosophy is paper thin
In vanity, the wide road is insanity
Could it be all of humanity?
Picture that. Scripture that!
The origin of man's heart is black
How can we show up for an invisible war
Preoccupied with a shadow, making love with a whore,
aching in sores, Babylon the great mystery,
mother of human history, system of social sorcery
Our present condition needs serious recognition
Where there's no repentence there can be no remission,
and that sentence more serious than Vietnam,
the atom bomb, and Saddam, and Minister Farrakhan
What's going on? What's a priority to you?
By what authority do we do
The majority hasn't a clue
We've majored in curses,
search the chapters, check the verses,
recapture the land, remove the mark from off our hands,
so we can stand in agreement with His command
Everything else is damned, let them with ears understand.
Everything else is damned, let them with ears understand…
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now,
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now.
It's freedom, I'm a be who I am,
it's freedom time, said it's freedom time
Everybody knows that they've lied,
Everybody knows they've perpetrated inside
Everybody knows that they're guilty
yes, resting on their conscience, eating their insides.
Get free, be who your supposed to be, freedom, said it's freedom time now, freedom, said it's freedom time, freedom, freedom time.
Lauryn Hill is one of my favorites & well known from her history with the Fugees.... but this song is awesome. It is so cutting and directly aimed at "the system" - you know the one - "the system" that controls people and keeps them enslaved to its purposes. The same system that always has agendas - usually the self-serving, "using" type of agendas and motives. And to top it off, add a healthy portion of pride, false humility and indignation at any questioning or skepticism aimed at it or its use and misuse of the resources (money, people, etc.) to build serve itself. Perhaps freedom is really just laying down all of the religion (the man-made stuff, not true religion - true religion is, after all, taking care of the widows, orphans and poor, right?), deception, selfishness, hostility, criticism, jugement... and the list goes on... and instead, choose to simply BE and simply LOVE. Hmmm.... It's one I think I need to ponder for a bit... How bout you? Jeff
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2 comments:
Yep, pondering. Cool song.
Is it just me, are do we all feel almost irresistible attraction to "systems", being drawn from one to another? The question for me at the moment is to find out how to just be real without joining any system. Y'know?
David -
Yep, I understand completely. Right now, we are honestly not a part of any systems. The draw can sometimes seem appealing to "be a part of something", but we have realized that most of the "somethings" are counterfeits for real relationships.
In the "one-on-ones" can can occur between us and the folks we cross paths with daily, more specifically, those God brings into ourlives, is where I believe real relationship and fellowship occurs. In real, safe relationships, where there is not a need to correct or fix each other, it is an amazing opportunity to grow and be who we are made to be.
There is a couple here that we get together with often. It's never formal, but we have that kind of relationship, and just getting together has incredible impact. We have alot of fun together, and there really aren't any subjects that are of limits. We just hang out. Sometimes, it's a completely God centered conversation, and sometimes we just cut up with each other, and sometimes it's both. All of the time, we really enjoy each others' company, and we have the freedom (and are even challenged) to be real, open and honest with ourselves and each other.
The "systems" claim to be a place of identity, covering and accountability, but interestingly enough, when we were there (in the traditional or evangelical or post modern circles, it really didn't matter - just a different flavor of religious culture, with its own smattering of "Jesus junk"), what we were being told about ourselves and God did not agree with what He was telling us about who we are and who He is. We were also taught that to be blessed and "covered", we needed to be under the authority of a local church, and under the headship of a local pastor - well, we were there for most of the first 35 years of our lives, and well, to be honest, we had our share of "attacks", problems and issues. In fact, life is much simpler since we left, and the sky didn't fall in on us, nor did the jugement of God. As far as accountability goes, the system never gave us that either, because the pastor and staff are too busy trying to move the corporate agenda ahead (you know, building a building, starting a new program, finding the right new youth minister, worship leader, etc.) to really be personally involved in people's lives. I mean, we were there for many years going through hell in our own lives and Kim's health, and we made it known - to our Sunday School teachers, church leaders, etc. - and you know how many visits and phone calls we got in 3 years? Yep, you guessed it - ZERO. So for accountability, I have never found it there. I only fount true accountability and relationship in those who stayed with us through the difficult times and did not feel a need to judge or reject or fix us. They simply came and sat with us for a while, and then came back again and again, and became part of our family and lives.
My wife made an interesting comment the other day. She said that anyone we are truly friends with, and close to, we know their family, and we are also involved in the lives of their whole family. Their moms, dads, kids, etc. What happened to days of sitting on the front porch visiting with the neighbors and knowing all those who lived within a mile or two? We have begun to move back into that, at least with the ones who are not too busy to be available, and it has been awesome. We have become involved in each others' lives, but without becoming entangled in the issues and judgements, and it has opened some amazing dialogue. For instance, a neighbor was over talking to us one day, and we mentioned something about hearing God. She stopped us and said, "You hear God? I don't know if I've ever heard God. How do you hear Him." A really cool conversation developed from there, but if we were still in the system, we would have probably been too busy to be involved in each others' lives.
Thanks, David, for your response. I pray that you and Melissa are doing well. God bless you both.
Jeff
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