It’s good to be reminded every now and then about the power of vision. We forget about vision until we are in trouble as a people. I will discuss concrete visions for particular places and people in a future Sketches. This Sketches is about vision in general. Where there is no vision, a people perish. We must see how we can help make the vision a reality, or the people perish. We must have symbols for the vision, or the people perish. We must act in our own ways in response to the vision or the people perish. We must connect to the vision in our own ways, or the people perish. We must share the vision, or the people perish. We must have a vision, or the people perish. Where there is no vision, the people perish. There were also slogans such as North to freedom. When people saw the North Star, they connected with the vision. Even a newspaper that advocated freedom for enslaved persons was named North Star. But the North Star symbolized the vision. Because they shared a common vision for enslaved persons, they employed their gifts to help those escaping to freedom, making the shared vision of freedom a common reality. Not all those involved in the North to Freedom Movement were escaping from slavery. When we see the vision, we understand how to connect our gifts to the vision to make the vision a reality. Vision allows us to be creative using what we have to make what is needed. But they were all moving toward the vision of freedom. Some went this month or year, and some went at other times. Some traveled alone, and some traveled in groups. Some went by land, and some went by water. There were many enslaved persons moving North to freedom. Vision allows people to move in the same direction in their own way, in their own time, at their own pace. The common purpose focused their desires and energies and actions. The common vision caused them to move in the same general direction toward freedom. They did not even have to know each other existed. They did not have to know each other because they shared the same vision. Those escaping from slavery did not have to talk to each other because they had the same vision. Vision causes many to move simultaneously in the same direction. A vision must be conveyed clearly enough for others to see it in their own minds. Where there is no vision, a people perish.Ī vision must be perceived by others, not just the visionary. The vision of freedom kept them on course. If they were going in any other direction, they were going away from freedom. As long as they were going North, they were moving toward freedom. The enslaved people wanted freedom, and freedom was North. Vision lets us know that we are moving in the right direction to fulfill a common purpose. Vision helps us know the direction to move. Without the North Star, the people escaping from slavery would not have known the direction to travel to freedom. When they came to a river and had to go all kinds of ways to cross over, they could get back on course by following the North Star. When they came to a large swamp and had to go in different directions to get around it, they could always get back on course by following the North Star. When slave catchers chased them and they scattered in all directions, they could get back on course by locating the North Star. They traveled at night partly to avoid detection but more importantly to see the North Star. They knew that to achieve freedom they had to go North where slavery was outlawed. One of my favorite illustrations of vision involves human beings escaping from slavery.
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