Don't Fence Me In

From the time I was an child and first heard this song, it had special meaning for me. It spoke to me of the freedom to be open and enjoy all of creation....a creation which awakened in me, and enforced, a true kinship and appreciation of all nature’s beauty.  I needed to be free to sit under the stars, climb up cliffs, sit in the branches of trees, watch the ripples on the lake, meditate to the sound of the waterfall and the singing of birds. 

I was blessed in having parents who not only encouraged, but shared in the oneness of the natural order of things.  We had no fences.  We didn’t even have a key to our house.  The doors were never locked.  I realized as I grew that whenever I was presented with a confining space, I shied away and inwardly rebelled against it. Though I appreciated different experiences I found I couldn’t stay in a place where I felt constrained and was expected to adapt to those constraints.

It seemed to me then, and it seems to me now, that I am always being offered a ‘box’ of some kind with the expectation I should willingly put myself into it and happily call it mine.  Granted, some welcome their boxes, feeling they fit themselves perfectly and they’re comfortable enough not to want to grow beyond it.

My continual problem is, I have tried different boxes of various types and sizes but find they don’t allow me the room I need to grow.  It isn’t long before I outgrow them and struggle to push the box open so there are no walls and I am free to grow as much as I am able.  I have a mental picture of my self oozing out of the cracks and growing until the box bursts.  Then, suddenly free, I can dance in the moonlight, one with the universe, singing and praising God.

We are a tribal people and we look for the comfort and security of belonging but we are also seekers.  We wish to come to know God.  The thing is, God is not in any one of the boxes organized religion has tried to put God in.  God is in all of them...and more.  I don’t know about you, but I get very uncomfortable when someone offers me a box and tries to tell me it’s the only place I’ll find God.  I simply can’t believe it.

So I say to those who are always trying to cram me into the boxes they’ve designed.....  Those boxes are for you, not me.  Don’t fence me in.  I need room to grow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSnYdEjwPLM

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies On my Cayuse,
let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies

On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder Till I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in