One of the most precious things for one's life is freedom. However have you ever thought about the fact that freedom cannot exist only by itself, it must combine with something, like responsibility, which is the basic factor for people to live in society. Possessing freedom does not mean you can do whatever things you want without any limit. The true freedom must be based on one's responsibilities to one's self, one's family, one's society, and one's belief. Otherwise, the freedom they have is meaningless.
People's responsibilities to themselves can make them to do everything for what they believe in, even though lost their freedom and life. When they lost their physical freedom, they may get more freedom in their minds. When they lost their current life, they may get new life for living with God. There is an instance: In the play named The Crucible, a story about the witch trial in a small town, the main character John Proctor rejects to sign the confessed paper:
John Proctor tears the confessed paper he just signed, Hale shouted: "Man, you will hang! You cannot!" Proctor, with his eyes full of tears, said
"I can. And there's your first marvel that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner, but white enough to keep it from such dogs".
John Proctor has a strong responsibility to himself. In the movie of The Crucible, one of the most impressive scenes is when John signed his name and cried out: "Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?" John proctor is a man who hates hypocrisy. He is not considers his name is important than his life. He said that because of his name is a representative of his responsibility. Comparing doing things against his belief, he would rather to die. He died, but he gained his spirit freedom forever. His action and his word proved his piety to the God and to himself.
It is true that all people have freedom to do things, but no one is living by herself or himself. So that to consider about the group you live in, such as your family, is always necessary. Since John Proctor used to have an affair with his servant Abigail, Abigail wants to be his wife. As Elizabeth, John Proctor's wife, said:
"Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she may dote on it now--I am sure she does- and thinks to kill me, then to take my place".
John Proctor did the wrong thing for once; it makes his wife and his family in a dangerous situation. He used his freedom without responsibility, so that something unexpected happens later. Never use your freedom haphazardly, because it is carrying the responsibilities of you.
And there is another story of Joseph in bible. Jacob's seventh son named Joseph. Because he is one of the youngest sons, his father spent more time with him, and he became very special to him. So Jacob had a special robe made for Joseph. All of Joseph's older brothers saw this and they got very jealous. So they made a plan to kill Joseph, the plan was stopped in the end because they wanted Joseph has more suffers. And they decided to sell him to the Egypt. He had been sold to an important man named Potiphar, an assistant to the Pharaoh of Egypt. But the Lord was with Joseph and He helped him do everything right, so Potiphar made him his helper, and put him in charge of everything that he owned. Because of God's help, Joseph was believed by Potiphar, and was put in charge of all the land of Egypt. People came from all countries to buy grain from Joseph, because the whole world was in need of food. Some of those people were Joseph's brothers. When his brothers came, Joseph recognized them, but they did not know who he was. The brothers all bowed to him because he was an important person. Just as he dreamed they would at the beginning.
After a few meetings with his brothers he could not keep it in any longer and Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father alive?" But his brothers couldn't answer him because they were afraid. Then Joseph said, "Come here. I am your brother, the one you sold! Do not worry, and do not be angry at yourselves for selling me, because God has put me here to save people from starving."
So his father, his brothers, and their families came to live in Egypt with Joseph, and they had all the food they needed.
Each person has an important place in his or her family. Through prophets the Lord has explained how fathers, mothers, and children should behave and feel toward one another. As husbands, wives, and children, we need to learn what the Lord expects us to do to fulfill our purpose as a family. If we all do our part, we will be united eternally. Joseph has the freedom to help or not help his brothers, however Joseph is the person who has strong responsibility to his family, he was doing the part that he thinks he should do for his family, and even they treated him ruthless and not as kind as him, he still chooses to help them.
People's responsibilities to themselves and to their families can bring them peaceful live. But the most important meaning of people's life is to contribute to the society. People have freedom to choose what to do and use their responsibilities to help others, to affect others, even to save others. At the end of the play, after John Proctor get on to the cart to be the execution ground,
"Hale weeps in frantic prayer, and the new sun is pouring in upon her face, and the drums rattle like bones in the morning air."
John proctor dead, later on, the village comes back to peace. He used his death to tell the truth, this is his last time to use his freedom. For the people in the village he even chose to give up his life, but for him, because of his responsibility to the society, it was worth.
Though everyone has freedom, freedom does not mean having one's full swing. Since you live in the world, we have to care about others, when we possess the freedom; we have to pick up our responsibilities. Sometimes, people's responsibilities even more important than his freedom, because we are not only live for ourselves but also for the people around us, for the whole society. Laws are playing important roles building a harmonious world, but people's responsibilities are also essential to it. So that, to know how to balance the power between freedom and responsibilities becom
