Freedom

John 8:31-36

To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said: If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered, 'We are descended from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do you mean, "You will be set free.’ Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave. Now a slave has no permanent standing in the household, but a son belongs to it for ever. So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.

Home...where we hope to begin and end our day....where our precious posessions and relationships are contained. Home is a word that depicts a place of desirable security...a place to which one wants to return regularly. It is a place where we can bask in relationships ... where we can be accepted as we are..no more, no less.

We walk through life with burdens that hang upon our minds, hearts and souls. These burdens are an accumulation of what we have done, left undone, or what has been done to us. We can't effectively free ourselves from the tangled cords of this accumulation...sometimes the more we wrestle with them the tighter they become. When I am struggling with an issue or a situation I do well to remind myself: Return to your home, and receive the truth that provides lasting freedom.

If Jesus' word is my home, I will come to know the truth...the truth about myself and about others. I am released from the illusions that wrap around me every day like tightly secured fetters. I am given a perspective unlike anything that the information and counsel of the world can provide. I am unleashed from fear, greed, and the bondage of self preoccupation so that I may live each day in joy and fullness of heart.

"Freedom comes as our souls are convinced that we rest in a love that never wavers or wanes, a love that never falters or fails, a love that will be there--knowable--on the very best and worst days of our life." Rev. David Miller, on Praying the Mystery