Liberation theology

I feel as if I've been on a treadmill for almost a month now. It is beginning to slow down a little before it shifts back into high gear in early April. Yesterday was the first time in 3 weeks I was able to attend my EFM class. The chapter under review for my group was about liberation. I feel as if I need some liberation myself. One of the definitions of liberation relates to oppression. One of the different kinds of oppression related to being freed from bondage and how the nature of that bondage has changed over the centuries. The text book says that everyone is oppressed in some way. A question/opinion was raised by a member of the class, "Some people don't think they are oppressed until someone comes along and tells them they are." What does liberation mean to me?

I've been kind of mulling that thought around in my head. I know that this strikes at the heart of a lot of conservative and liberal ideologies. In a conversation I had last week with a friend of mine we talked about people who have potential but never use it. My friend told the story of a person who had a real disabling injury. He was talented enough that he could have gone to school to receive training and possibly find a job with a company even with his disability. The catch was he had to be willing to give up his disability status. The man decided to stay where he was. The man turned down the chance because he felt he had reached his potential where he was. He couldn't imagine becoming more than he already was. Trying to become more than he was meant risking the lose of his only means of income to support his family

I saw a story on the news about project Bootstrap by SIU that took workers who were low wage and low skilled and gave them the skills to become business owners. A man who was a worker at a salvage yard learned how to talk to bankers and do taxes and was able to buy the yard he had worked at when it went up for sale. He said that he never imagined he would be anything more than a worker in the yard.

In some ways we are all limited by who we believe we are. I know that sometimes in these past couple of months I look around and wonder why I feel compelled to put in 80-90 hours a week. My wife teaches classes all day and then comes home and spends hours preparing for classes the next day. I can't imagine success without that work load. I'm often envious of the people who can be successful doing only one thing. In my career I've designed the sets, lights, costumes, and sound, as well as help construct all those technical elements, directed the plays, marketed the plays, helped sell tickets, ushered for the plays, and cleaned the theatre after the plays. I find myself thinking how nice it would be to only work on one part of the whole production. To not be pulled in 10 different ways.

Have I created a world in which I'm trapped by my own abilities? Have I reached my level of success and can't see anything beyond who I am right now? What is my liberation? The old expression "Cream rises until it sours" comes into my head.

Spring break is coming in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll find some liberation in sitting next to the ocean and watching the waves as I soak up some rays.