Since Monday is the 4th of July in America, I'm going to celebrate it by writing about the scene and dialog in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl that inspired me to do this blog. It is my favorite in all of the movies and I'll just jump right in.
Capt. Jack and Elizabeth have been marooned on an island after being captured by Capt. Barbossa. Barbossa was the second mate when Jack captained the Black Pearl. He lead a mutiny then marooned Jack on the same island several years back (think sea turtles, mate). Jack has been trying to get the Pearl back from Barbossa ever since.
Capt. Jack has indulged in a bit of rum and he and Elizabeth are dancing around a bon fire singing:
"We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs…drink up me earties yo ho!
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!
They both fall in the sand and start talking.
Jack: "I love this song! Really bad eggs! When I get the Pearl back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time.
Elizabeth: "And you will be positively the most fearsome pirates in the Spanish main."
Jack: "Not just the Spanish main Love, the entire ocean...the entire world...where ever we want to go.
Jack looks to the horizon: "That's what a ship is you know. It's not just a keel, and a hull, and a deck and sails..that's what a ship needs. But what a ship is, what the Black Pearl really is…is freedom."
It's freedom. And it has motivated Jack for 10 years to get the Pearl back. That word packs as much power as almost any other word in language. It conjures up feelings of excitement, hopes and dreams. What does it mean to you? It affects me on several levels and I'll talk about two: one today and the other next Sunday.
The First is the freedom of society. This is an all American post for me as I consider it one of the greatest blessings in my life to have been born in a country where freedom is established. The sacrifices made by our founding fathers allow us to live as we choose to today. It says it all in the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and ensure the Blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for The United States of America."
I am often guilty of taking this for granted. Our freedom that is. I can go to church on Sunday, travel anywhere in the country I want to go, own my own land and business, speak my mind, and vote for who I want in government leadership. It's my choice. That's not the case everywhere. Look at the way human beings are treated in many parts of the world. Ponder the pictures you see of oppression. They are all too real. When I see it I am saddened, but a fire of gratitude burns in me that I live in a country where freedom is a right.
It is not a perfect system as there are Americans past and present who have been afflicted by the hands of others. But not the established constitution. New laws are fought for and measured against the ratified standard. They generally get it right. The abolishment of slavery and women's suffrage are examples.
There's a song by Brooks and Dunn called Only in America. I heard them sing it live in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Winter Olympics. I got chills listening to it. The chorus lyrics are, "Only in America, where we dream in red, white and blue. Only in America, where we dream as big as we want to. We all get a chance, everybody gets to dance..Only in America."
Brooks and Dunn: Only in America Listen and watch, it might just make your day!
The vision of our founding fathers as they looked over the seas was freedom. They paid for it with their lives and absolute devotion to the ideal. It is still paid for today by those who fight to keep those rights intact. For one moment this weekend, look out to the horizon where ever you are and give thanks. Don't just pay it lip service, but feel it. It is a gift. It's not a pen, a piece of parchment, or ink..that's what the Constitution of the United States needs. But what America is..what true patriotism is…is freedom. The word that can change the world.
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