Ideas Have Consequences

An idea takes hold in a woman’s mind.  It permeates her consciousness, molding every thought, infecting every dream.  The idea grows into a monstrous belief, leading her to make the ultimate sacrifice.  And, one man is left to grapple with the incredible potency of an idea – a single, life-shattering idea.

The film “Inception” makes a thrilling query.  With every great novel and stirring biography, it asks, “Would you die for an idea?”

Once, in a colonial province, the idea of freedom stirred in the hearts of men, both unschooled and learned, young and old alike.  The idea took shape in a corporate belief: that all men are created equal, with certain unalienable rights.  We know the story.  We have not forgotten their pledge of lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.

In the weeks and months following July fourth, however, the idea demanded more than a pledge.  Writing in blood, not ink, was required at the altar of belief.   Living out their devotion to the freedom cause, Americans fell, one by one, from the General’s ranks.  At the battle of Long Island, August 1776, Washington bemoaned, “What brave fellows I must lose this day!”

What of us, in our bright and rollicking world?  The ideas are ripe to be gnawed at and chewed.  Yet, how seldom we give attention to truth.  Perhaps we are uneasy with deep, relevant thoughts.  Ideas have consequences, after all, and few among us desire to embrace a belief.

We hear the old rugged idea, from our Sunday pews.  You are not your own… you are bought with a price.  Is today the day I let it take hold in my mind?  It might cast shadows on my memories, giving definition and direction to future plans.  This idea might grow into an overwhelming belief, forcing self-will to die for something higher than myself.  Perhaps the world would see and wonder.  And I could share that one idea.

Advertisement