The words of this title have “baggage”—they carry connotations that can be positive or negative, based on context. This weekend is a good time to explore the intricacies of grammar and meaning, at least in terms of these words.
“Dependence” is often characterized as a bad thing. I might be dependent on alcohol, or pornography, or opioids. I might be dependent upon unemployment payments, or insulin, or dialysis. These “dependencies” surely indicate that something is wrong and needs to be set straight. So here we long for “independence.”
But “dependence” can also be a good thing. I might be able to depend upon a spouse, or a parent, or a friend—to be what I need them to be (which is not necessarily what I might want them to be…). They are there for me, and I can depend/rely on them. This is beautiful “dependence.”
In the same way, “independence” can have a positive sense. I might be freed from (rid of) the bad dependences I listed above; I might want to repeat the great conclusion of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream speech”— “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last!” This is Biblical freedom as it is expressed in the Canticle of Zechariah (in the Morning Prayer of every day in the Liturgy of the Hours)— This was the promise He made to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship Him without fear, holy and righteous in His sight all the days of our life. We especially long for the freedom, the independence, in Christ that releases us from being slaves of sin.
This brings us to “independence” in the negative sense. “I am free”—but from what, and for what? Am I free/“independent” of proper behavior so I can do whatever I please, whenever I please, to whomever I please?” This kind of “independence” is deadly, not least because it celebrates self-centeredness at the expense of everyone and everything else. “I will do what I want to do; no one is going to tell me what do do…”
Our independence in Christ is based on being formed into a community of caring and of love and of service—being grafted onto the Vine of Jesus Christ, made members of His Body and living stones in the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We are made into the People of God. Here my “freedom/independence” is a fact that liberates me to active concern for others. Ironically, then, being free to be a servant to all is the most “independent” of all possibilities for my life.
So: happy “Independence Day,” understood the right way.