I had not noticed any ‘vanity’ license plates for some time. At least, not any that caught my attention and made we wonder about the driver behind the wheel of the moving message. And then on Thursday I saw two within minutes of one another.
Driving along the East River Road on my way to the office I waited while a car turned into the pathway in front of me. This silver SUV carried the letters ‘Justblv’ on its hindquarters. For several miles I followed this imploring message until it drove straight toward the University while I turned west. I wondered about the owner of the vehicle. What beliefs were they encouraging others to? Was this an echo of scripture or one that encouraged us to clap our hands to conjure up fairies like in a Peter Pan kind of believe? Was it an affirmation to believe in one’s self in an effort to keep on keepin’ on or to attain some goal? The seven letters sent my mind reeling.
Several miles down the road a black station wagon pulled into the lane in front of me. This cargo car’s message? ‘Free2Be’. Of course the children’s book from the sixties written by Marlo Thomas came immediately to mind. Free To Be You and Me</strong>. Dismissing this as the intended message, I thought about what compels a person to pay the extra money for a plate with this particular message. Perhaps they are a libertarian. Or an anarchist. Maybe the car is driven by an ‘old hippie’. Or maybe they just want to remind us all of our democratic rights to practice who we are in the land of the free and the brave. Who knows?
Going through my day with these two messages playing tag with one another, I thought about all the times what some of us ‘just believe’ clash with the ‘free to be’ of others. I think of my own belief system that has changed shape and evolved into something different than it once was. The life experiences I have encountered and the places and people I have known have caused what may have once been bedrock I thought unshakeable to be sculpted into new ways of believing. I hope it will always be so.
Which I suppose is where the ‘free to be’ comes in. If we hold the world gently, if we concede that we are, will always be, expanding our understanding of what it means to be a world citizen alive at such an interesting and changing time, we will always be fluid in our beliefs. This is not to say that there are beliefs that will ever go away. However,what these are may be different for different people……ahhh, that free to be thing again.
So on this warm, sunny, summer day I would like to say that I am free to believe in a few things, a few things that I believe may heal the world. Like kindness. And the power of welcome. The satisfaction that comes from a warm slice of bread fresh from the oven. The beauty of color…in flowers and faces. The sweetness of a child’s giggle and the smile of the big black dog. One hand that holds another. Rain gently falling on an earth that begs for it. The gift of a well told story. Friendship, blessed friendship. The river flowing to the ocean. Music that makes me weep and urges me to dance. The sense of being held by One who will not let me go no matter what.
So many things in which to believe. Just because I am free to do so. What a gift! And what about you? Where are you planting your belief these days? How are you living into your freedom to be?
May the Spirit dance among us all filling us with the freedom to grow and change and reshape for our own healing and the healing of the world.
I read the “Justblv” as “Just be love.” Just as hopeful and positive.