After our session we all went to the NC Museum of Art. We got to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit (it was in Wisconsin in the fall but we missed it!). It was a pretty fun exhibit, as they go. I really enjoyed learning about this man who illustrated classic America. I was especially moved by a picture he painted of a little black girl in a stark, white dress being escorted into a white school at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. What a powerful moment and a brave little girl.
Rockwell also illustrated the "Four Freedoms" speech that President Roosevelt gave at the state of the union address in 1941. Roosevelt said:
"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world."
I love these goals and Rockwell's interpretation of them. I'm grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. I know that all of those goals haven't necessarily been met, but these are worthy goals. And as I look at my own life, I recognize the great freedom that I have always felt from want. Especially thanks to these two lovely people:
I am so blessed.
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