In several of my classes recently, we’ve been discussing the concept of freedom as well as a traditional Catholic understanding of the make-up of the human soul. (Regarding this latter topic, I’m referring to things like the differentiation of the soul into the internal sensations, the passions, the intellect, and the will.) And these discussions have gotten me thinking about the way we generally live today in modern-day America. We Americans pride ourselves on freedom and the ability to choose many of the facets of our lives. We choose what we will do, who we will be, where we will live, what values we will hold. Now, compared to some countries where personal choice is not something that is generally supported or allowed, the situation of Americans sure seems great. We have a freedom on a societal level that others in the world do not. But, is freedom really just about a choice to do this or that? Does choice involve merely doing what we feel like doing at a given time or is there something more?
It seems to me that choice always involves an act of the will. And a truly free act of the will is based not just on our emotions or our dreams and imagination and senses but on our intellect as well. That is, an act of the will that is a direct result of only the emotions suggests that a person isn’t truly and wholly free as a full human being but is rather controlled by one part of his or her self - in this case, the emotions. A truly free human being is able to take the data directed toward the will by the emotions and imagination and senses and subject that data to the rational intellect whereby it is weighed against a broader conception of truth, an understanding of truth that is grounded in reason as well as divine revelation. When the person can weigh all of this data and act in a way that is most in line with the truth, then the person is acting out of freedom.
So, what does this have to do with modern day Americans? Well, it seems to me that too often, we Americans act not out of a careful consideration of truth, but simply out of an awareness of our emotional or sense-based desires. And we think we are making a free choice to do what we want to do. We don’t realize, however, that we really aren’t acting freely, but are allowing ourselves to be slaves to our emotions or senses which may be feeding us half-truths. And we forget that in every situation, we still have a will which can be directed by something other than emotions and senses. Just because we feel like doing something, that doesn’t mean that we have to do it. We can decide to do something else. I may feel like eating chocolate cake for dinner, and it might taste really good and put me in a good mood for the evening, but I can look at my desire to eat that chocolate cake and say to myself, “now, Jen, that chocolate cake has x amount of fat and y amount of calories and it’s mostly made of sugar. Eating that cake will not be beneficial for your health.” And I can choose to not eat the cake. It may not be easy, but it is possible, particularly with the grace of God which continues to free us the more we seek it.
I need to hear this message as much as anybody. Let us all pray for the grace to use our wills freely and in the light of truth.
