Freedom

                 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

 

          Freedom! We all say we want it, but do we? I’m approaching the end of my third year of comparative freedom. I spent years under the authority of my parents, schools, and employers. I’m still under the authority of God, of the government, of society, and my circumstances (e.g. finances,) but for the past three years, I’ve been comparatively free. Some would probably call it a mid-life crisis.

          I’ve wasted money, often trying to figure out ways to not have to spend money. I’ve struggled with the questions. Who am I, now that I’m no longer daughter/student/employee? What do I want to do with my life? What do I want to be when I grow up? What if I fail? Who is going to be there to pick me up and kiss my booboo, or to put the pieces back together for me? Now that it feels as if I’ve wasted years and decades of my life, what am I supposed to do? What can I do that will make my life other than a waste (whether until now, or from now on)?

          I’m not the only one who struggles with these sorts of questions. If I were, there’d be no term like “midlife crisis.” Women would not find themselves in one bad relationship after another. Criminals wouldn’t commit crimes to get back into prison. There’d be no saying like, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” We’d learn from history, so it wouldn’t have to repeat itself!

          Put simply, while freedom sounds wonderful – and is wonderful – it’s also difficult, frightening, and full of consequences. For one thing, it’s not absolute. I know people who say they aren’t free because they can’t leap into the air and fly. There are always authorities from which we are not free. Jesus said that knowing the truth would be what sets us free, so it is what is not true that enslaves and imprisons us.

          When we talk about freedom, it seems that a great deal of freedom requires connection. We are free to, free from, or free of something. In today’s passage, the condition and association is truth. Knowing the truth sets us free. It sets us free from lies and errors. It sets us free to make wise choices.

Here are the problems. Freedom takes

Time

Effort

Attention

Discomfort

Facing resistance from ourselves and others

Experience/training

Patience

          Commitment

          Responsibility

          Choice

          Wisdom

          It’s easier to be a slave to a lie, but the price for doing it is even higher.