spiritual direction

Recently, I completed a two-year course of study to become trained in a centuries-old practice known as spiritual direction. In case you’ve never heard of this before, I define spiritual direction as an intentional process whereby one person helps another notice, honor, and respond freely to God’s presence and activity in their life. As a spiritual director, I seek to cooperate with God in nurturing an open space where others can come to God just as they are...to experience what it means to be the Beloved of God.

I love the simplicity and the process of spiritual direction because I see a lot of playfulness in it. Did you know I happen to be passionate about play?!

Though the phrase “spiritual direction” might not sound very playful, time and time again, I have seen the spirit of play embodied in our midst as the person seeking God’s direction experiences freedom, grace, joy, and openness in their relationship with God. In spiritual direction, we engage our imagination and become more childlike (trusting) in our faith.

Like play, spiritual direction is not a pre-planned program. Each session has an improvisational feel to it as we simply listen to what is being said and as we open ourselves to what God might want to say in the spirit of love, just love. We bring the stuff of our real life to the interaction and attune our hearts to the very heart of God, bringing Scripture to bear and applying the gentle, compassionate, and gracious way of Jesus to our lives.

In the midst of such an interaction, we cultivate the spirit of self-forgetfulness (which is also a characteristic of play) as we attend fully to God’s presence in our midst right here...right now.

I’ve become convinced that these kinds of interactions are sorely needed in a world that scarcely slows down long enough to really listen. It saddens me that in our society today we have become increasingly violent towards one another in thought, word, and deed. In that light, spiritual direction is a countercultural way of being with one another, so I am looking forward to practicing it more and more with those who may be interested in it.

I wonder if you sense that spiritual direction could be a help to you in your life? If so, I’ve prepared a sign-up form where you can find out more details about it. If you have any questions or want to talk with me more about it, feel free to reach out via a private message.

In any case: may God’s love and joy, grace and freedom flourish in your life!

Freedom, Truth and Cancel Culture

Frederick Douglass

Freedom, Truth and Cancel Culture

reflections by Rev. Troy B. Cady

July 4, 2020

            I recall just now the sense of wonder, hope and joy that welled up within me on the 4^th of July when I was a child. Every year, I looked forward to this day. Though we didn’t have a lot of money, we always managed to buy fireworks and we enjoyed plenty of food, treats and sugary drinks like Kool Aid, lemonade, and soda. I remember sitting near Silver Lake, anticipating the start of the big fireworks show as night fell.

          As I aged, I remember always feeling intrigued by stories and figures of our nation’s founding: from the arrival of pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620 to the revolution led by George Washington about 150 years later. I imagined myself as a witness to historic moments like the Boston Tea Party and the battle at Valley Forge. I revered figures like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Such brilliance they possessed! The words of the Declaration of Independence gripped my imagination: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is no exaggeration to say those words still inspire me today.

            I remember longing to see the Capitol building, the White House, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in my tween years. In 1985, at the age of fifteen, that dream was fulfilled when I had the chance to participate in a youth conference that took place in Washington, D.C. Later in high school, I remember being awestruck at the sight of Mount Rushmore, where four of America’s great Presidents are etched in stone, larger than life.

            Yesterday (July 3, 2020) President Trump stood in front of Mount Rushmore to deliver remarks that address a growing movement among American citizens calling for the removal of monuments which memorialize figures in our nation’s history who have committed dishonorable acts of sobering significance. Among such monuments are those that memorialize leaders of the former Confederacy or utilize symbols of the Confederacy (such as the Confederate flag itself).

            But it has also been noted that, if those monuments are removed, why should monuments to people like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson be left standing? After all, it is a well-known fact that both Washington and Jefferson were slave owners, as were many prominent figures during this part of U.S. history.

            “Where will it end?” many wonder.

            The movement calling for the removal of these monuments, it is said, is part of a much larger agenda that has been labelled as “cancel culture.” The label aims to portray people who are calling for the removal of such monuments as people who want to obliterate our sense of historic identity (so as to “cancel” our culture—our cherished way of life—altogether). The fear is that, in removing monuments such as these, we will, in effect, be taking a big eraser to history, getting rid of the memory of those who have shaped us and made us who we are today.

            To many, it simply does not seem right to dishonor those who have gone before us by removing monuments that help us remember them. For this reason, the President announced last night that he is planning to build a National Garden of American Heroes. It will be “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.”[1]

Beyond Nostalgia

I must confess: July 4^th just doesn’t seem like the July 4^th of my childhood anymore. As a middle-aged white, male Christian pastor (with a wife, two kids and a dog), there is much in me that would love to just relive the nostalgia of my youth.

            And, I must confess: as I watched the President’s speech last night I could picture a former me among the crowd in front of Mount Rushmore, swelling with pride, relishing every word, including the songs and speeches that were given by others.

            But over the years, something has changed in me. I still stand by this continued experiment we call America, but as I have gone deeper in my relationship with Christ, I have also identified the ways in which my faith causes me to do more than just affirm “the American way.” On the contrary, it has helped me to see that the way of Christ often challenges the American way by calling us to a better way, a higher way.

            So, as much as I would like to perpetuate my own sense of nostalgia, my faith in Christ calls me to something greater (which is, in fact, something to which our country itself aspires). It is this:  

            There is no higher expression of freedom than to use one’s own freedom to liberate the oppressed and come to the aid of the downtrodden. But it takes incredible courage to speak out against the abuse of freedom, for such words will not be welcomed by those in power.

Frederick Douglass and True Freedom

About nine years before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass did just that: he used his freedom to speak truth to those who were abusing their freedoms by perpetuating the institution of slavery.

            Here is what he said on July 5, 1852:

“Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, ‘may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!’ To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world.

My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave’s point of view.

Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting.

America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of America! ‘I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;’ I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.

“But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued.”[2]

            I would like to suggest to all of us that these words are just as needed today as they were over a century and a half ago. Here we have an example of the true sacrifice that freedom requires. It is to lay one’s reputation, one’s livelihood, and one’s very life on the line for the sake of others who have been denied freedom in all its fullness.

Freedom and Truth-telling

In Mr. Douglass’ speech we have a true model and inspiration as he shows us that those who are truly free are unafraid to face the truth. And the truth is: we have been granted freedoms we do not deserve.

            I ask: who is the greater patriot? The one who glosses over the truth so we can remain comfortable in our half-truths? Or the one who speaks the whole truth by boldly challenging us to rise to our highest ideals even while calling us to confess our gravest sins?

            It has been said that racial oppression is America’s original sin. It is a sin, I am convinced, we have not fully faced because it is the kind of sin that those in power have the luxury of ignoring (myself included).

            In light of this, I invite you to thoughtfully read the transcript of President Trump’s speech that he delivered last night in front of Mount Rushmore (it’s linked in the endnotes below). In his speech, he tells the story of great moments and figures in our nation’s history—but he leaves out those parts of the story that many are trying to bring to light.

            It is the suppression of this fuller story—the suppression of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—that keeps us from being truly free.

            This is ironic, however, because in his speech the President addresses a concern many people have about the “cancel culture.”

            I, too, share the concern that we take pains not to omit important aspects of our nation’s story. So, I have to ask:  “Just who is trying to ‘cancel’ and ‘erase’ key aspects of our history?” Might it be possible that both “sides” are doing just that?

            A case in point: last night what we witnessed was a speech by the leader of our country in which he used a giant eraser to edit out key aspects which are inextricably woven into the very fabric of the story he told (a nice, nostalgic story).

           

Towards a Fuller Story

What we need is to face the truth with an honest assessment, neither demonizing nor canonizing…but humanizing. This requires humility and a determination to put right the wrongs we have committed.

            The truth is: Thomas Jefferson was a human. True: he was brilliant; we owe our country’s very existence to his brilliance. In his speech, Douglass even refers to this:

“The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too — great enough to give fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory.”

            But, that is only one side of the story. The hard reality we must face is that Thomas Jefferson was also a slave owner who raped one of those he enslaved when she was just a teenager. To fail to tell both sides of the story is to “cancel” the part of the story that is left out.

            And, yes: the Louisiana Purchase, along with our subsequent expansion into the West, served to advance commerce and build the nation’s economy. But this expansion also displaced Native Americans, robbing them of their homes and livelihood. We occupy land that was not ours; we enjoy freedoms we do not deserve.

Manifest Destiny and the Spirit of Christ

On this 4^th of July it should trouble us that last night President Trump invoked the doctrine of Manifest Destiny to justify his account of history. As Franklin Douglass modeled for us more than 150 years ago, we need to ask, “Just whose destiny are we talking about here? Was God’s favor manifest for the Africans who were taken from their homes and enslaved for two and a half centuries? Did the Native Americans, whose population was decimated by a biological attack when the Europeans arrived, enjoy God’s freedom? Whose destiny are we talking about?”

            It is a desecration to the ideal of freedom to ignore the truth so we can continue to enjoy a comfortable existence. And, as a pastor, I must say: it is blasphemous to invoke Christianity in service to this agenda.

            When Frederick Douglass said he would view July 4^th from the slave’s point of view, he was truly exhibiting the spirit of Christ, for Jesus himself did likewise: he sided with the oppressed. He who enjoyed all the powers of divinity…divested himself of power, humbled himself, and became a servant with no rights whatsoever. He did this freely because of love. And there is no greater freedom than that.

            And he who freely loved like that reminds us that it is the truth which will set us free. We cannot be free if we fail to face the truth. This is not about demonizing and it is not about canonizing. It is about humanizing.

            This may be the hardest thing we will ever have to do, but it is absolutely essential that we do it. It will mean the relinquishment of control, letting go of power, being willing to honestly assess the shortfalls of the version of history we prefer. But only as we do so will we be healed from the wounds of the sin of racism.

            I know that what I have written is not popular, and it violates any sense of nostalgia on this important day, but this is my call to freedom on this 4^th of July, 2020.

      

---

Endnotes:

[1] See the transcript of his speech here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-south-dakotas-2020-mount-rushmore-fireworks-celebration-keystone-south-dakota/

[2] You can read his full speech here: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/

taking off the mask

Taking Off the Mask

reflections on vulnerability

by Troy Cady

The instinct for self-preservation runs deep. I recognize it in my need for approval. It is the source of more words and actions, silences and inactions, than I care to admit.

How utterly isolating the need for approval turns out to be! Even when I express myself out of this need, what I am showing you is not my true self but the self I want you to see.

And if I think that expressing myself will deprive me of approval, I will simply content myself to just say nothing, do nothing—but hide.

Thus, my drive to preserve myself proves to be a sentence I place upon myself. I wonder how many prison cells I’ve chosen to inhabit? I wonder how many times I’ve used the freedom I’ve been given to just lock myself up?

…………………………………

The deep tragedy of our society is that most of us have trained ourselves to hide behind appearances. We are driven by a self-preserving instinct. We can’t help it. It’s in our blood.

Some are driven by the need to appear good or loving. Others want to appear successful or wise. Still others want to be thought of as fun-loving and free-spirited. Power is another mask we wear; we don’t want to appear weak.  Some people even employ traits like peacefulness or loyalty as self-preserving mechanisms (thus, when change feels risky, they play it safe).

My drive happens to be fueled by the desire to be thought of as original. In other words, I want you to think I have a beautiful soul; I want you to think I’m creative; I want to be thought of as an artist. I like the recognition.

Those who know me well already know this about me. Those who are getting to know me well might say: “Ah, yes. That makes sense to me now. I can see it.”

…………………………………

I am convinced that for every vulnerability we share with a trusted companion we gain a little more freedom. The problem is: we’ve all experienced the harsh reality that sometimes, when we share our true self with others, that vulnerability is betrayed. The betrayal comes in at least two forms: at worst, our trust is violated, exploited. At best, our vulnerability sometimes just drives others away.

To show another your true self is one of the most courageous things you will ever do in this life.

…………………………………

Underneath every mask I wear, every word I write or speak, and every silence I keep, there resides a hungry heart, a thirsty soul, that just wants to be filled with love. To my core, I want nothing more than to know that, beyond all the games I play, there is at least one person who knows me deeply, sees me as I really am, and loves me, and loves me, and loves me.

Is there something inside me, something that is there not by my own manufacturing, but deeply, inherently present within me, that is worthy of being loved? That is the question, I feel, that haunts us. Am I worthy of being loved, seen and honored for who I truly am, flawed as I am?

It is only by this kind of love that we are truly set free and sustained in freedom.

…………………………………

How deeply my life would change if I could be set free of the fear of rejection, if I could just learn to be myself and accept it.

This is the work of a lifetime, of everyone’s lifetime, because in childhood we are shaped by the approval or disapproval of those who are supposed to care for us. There exists a vulnerability in each of us whose substance is childlike. It’s a simple vulnerability; it’s the need to be loved.

Inside every adult entrusted with the care of a child there exists a child who has been deprived of love at one time or another.

…………………………………

This is the essence of the good news I can’t deny, the good news that has taken my breath away, the good news I’ve sometimes forgotten, and the good news that always draws me back.

It is the good news that, no matter how inconsistently I experience this love from others and, no matter how much I struggle to see anything worthy inside myself, there is One whose love never fails. It’s God. God is love; therefore, God loves. Let it sink in. It’s the best news ever.

God loves…me.

God loves…you.

And there is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do to change that. God loves, period.

…………………………………

What freedom—I am loved, you are loved. What freedom!

I don’t have to hide anymore. I can share with you who I really am. I can share my fears because I know there is a God who sees my fears and this God will never betray my trust. Even if others betray my trust, I know there is someone who loves me just as I am. I know this because God sees me just as I am and God never stops loving me.  

This acceptance is what changes me. This acceptance is patient with me as I learn to live in the light of God’s love. I’m still changing—which is to say, I’m still learning to let God’s love sink in to me deeper and deeper.

This learning is nothing short of a lifelong process of becoming more free—a perpetual, unending conversion. To be sure, this conversion starts at a certain point; each of us ultimately recognizes the question of being loved at a certain point for the first time—but once we recognize it as THE question of life, it never goes away. Every time we return to the question of love, and every time we freely receive it, we are being converted to a life of love, little by little. Love, and only love, has the power to transform us through and through, day by day.

So, the question is this: do I know this love…am I receiving it?

My appeal to you is nothing more than that you (everyone) would receive this love freely. It’s never forced on us. It’s always only offered freely. But the only way to really live in freedom is to receive it.

Drink deeply of a love that never fails. Make a foolish prayer of it. You’re loved, you’re free.

Amen.

  

…………………………………

*Photo: Boy In His Own World by Clement Chai, via Unsplash. Creative Commons License.

VIII. God's Pregnancy

VIII. God’s Pregnancy

by Troy Cady

“History is cosmic pregnancy.” -Peter Kreeft

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth…” -The apostle Paul

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” -Jesus of Nazareth

I believe authentic ministry is an exercise in hope—and the first principle of hope is that we hope because God hopes.

The Bible uses the image of pregnancy to describe God’s hope. It is one of the portions of Scripture that troubles some Christians because it portrays God in feminine terms: God has a womb.

I think it is a beautiful image.

………………………….

            The image of a pregnant God accounts for much of the human experience: joy in the midst of pain, patience in waiting, growth and nurture, immanence and transcendence.

            It accounts for the feeling of hearing God’s voice as if from the inside. It is both strange and wonderful that maybe God’s voice is hard for us to understand not because God is so far away but because God is very close. God speaks but we have little capacity to understand what she is saying. God sings and the song gladdens our hearts inexplicably but we have yet to learn the song. Our songs are only imperfect copies of God-song. Comparatively, our songs are just mute potentialities.

            We can be certain of this: God’s voice will be clearer when the new birth happens, when we grow till the life She is giving us is sustained in us. God is patient, confident in the expectation that, in time, we will develop sight, the ability to hear, to grasp, to move…till we have a heart that beats strongly, lungs that breath deeply, mouths that take nourishment and learn to savor, throats to swallow and a chest rising and falling in rhythm.

…………………..

            My calling involves reminding others of these truths, that pain may last for a night but joy comes in the morning. If we feel pain momentarily, it is a comfort that we do not suffer alone. It is a comfort to me that our pain is not equivalent to God’s. God may be able to endure the pain better than us because God knows what is happening, what will emerge—but God’s pain is greater than ours, not less. When we suffer, God suffers more.

………………..

            My calling involves reminding others that whatever God makes is beautiful, bears the marks of God, resembles God.

            Each creation God brings forth is unique. I believe that a world of infinite variety could only be made by an infinite God, whose creativity can never be exhausted.

            I believe that God made our bodies and notices that the body is good. My calling involves reminding others to be good to the body, because the body is good.

……………………

            My calling is to help others be aware that God is closer than we think. There is no place we can go that God is not present. We are like pre-born babies in God’s womb. The Person all around knows us better than we know ourselves, loves us like no other. God is for us, not against us. God delights in us, sings over us, is expectant.

……………………..

            The specific voice of my calling is a voice of joy, a voice that sounds like play. Whatever God makes, God makes freely because of joy. Whatever God makes is a work that is more like play than work; it is a restful work.

            God makes freely so we who are made in God’s image are free to be ourselves, free to create, free to attach and detach. It is a strange paradox that only by clinging to God closely do we find the deepest freedom.

            God’s pregnancy is no trial to God. God endures because of joy. God embraces and awaits embrace, anticipates deeper communion with us. She smiles when She thinks of all the play we shall enjoy with Her. I smile, too, and want everyone to know Her joy.  

            Ministry is an exercise in hope because God is pregnant. We don’t know precisely what God will bring to life, what grows inside, but we know what comes forth will be good, beautiful and destined for joy.

what we find in rest

Jesus only had hard words for those who had hard words…whose hearts were harder to till than a field of clay…whose work was to add burdens to souls looking for rest.

There are people today who are lonely, who are in search of friends. There is the man who is worried and the woman who doubts. Jesus was the rabbi people like this followed because he promised that if they came to him he would give them rest. He was unlike the other teachers whose commentary created lists to keep.

Jesus only has one thing on his list: “Come to me.” He only has one burden on his heart: rest.

True, it is only one thing...but in his rest we discover so much more: freedom, grace, joy, friendship and strength. He gives nothing less than a new lease on life. Wonder of wonders.  

thoughts on freedom

Since I’m married to a Canadian and since I have spent the better part of my adult years befriending internationals, Independence Day in the United States is a strange holiday for me. I realize I may have just alienated all my patriotic friends with that first sentence, but bear with me.

Because of my background, I now tend to think of the Fourth of July as a chance to reflect more broadly on the nature and value of freedom.  It may surprise you to hear me say this but as a pastor I found I did not discover freedom (and truly appreciate it) until I was well into my thirties. For that reason, I do believe I still have much to learn about it.

Around 2002 I saw my wife living in a new, deep and rich freedom. She is the one who began teaching me about freedom by the way she lived. Seeing her this way, I discovered in myself various aspects of unfreedom.  I’ll be honest: her example scared me. I recall saying to her on more than one occasion: “You’re so free, it’s scary!” I said this jokingly, but I must confess there was more than a little honesty in the statement.

Around this time, a psychologist who worked for our mission commented on how few Christians really live freely. Most of them are bound, somehow. So, I began to notice the artificial restraints we fashion—the games we play to limit ourselves and others.

Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” I have always been astounded by this truth. It seems to be a “Well, duh” kind of statement. But then I consider why such a statement needs to be made: Christ grants us freedom, but we are uncomfortable with this. It just seems too…free. All kinds of hypothetical scenarios begin to pop up in my head in response to this kind of wild freedom. I call them “what if…” scenarios.

“Yes, but what if…” The objection is designed to demonstrate the limits of absolute freedom. If we can find a likely “what if” scenario we will feel justified in our propensity to impose restriction. Finding a reason to restrict proves comforting because expansive freedom wrenches control from us. There is quite possibly nothing more unsettling to us as the experience of being out of control.

Unfreedom is all about control. Freedom lets go.

For this reason, freedom is more an attitude than a specific behavior. Letting go of the need to control is heart work. It involves real trust and relationship. Because of this, it may very well be that growing in freedom is the most difficult kind of heart work we can possibly do.

Living freely is the art of walking gracefully among the limitless ambiguities of life.

Genuine freedom takes into account that life cannot be controlled—and genuine freedom trains us to make our peace with the wildness of it all. The second we insist on control is a moment in which we diminish the artfulness of existence.

If “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free”, then the Christian life is one in which we play with the implications of this kind of freedom in every sphere of our lives. What does it mean for the Christian to play out freedom in marriage? What does it mean to worship freely, to work freely? What does it look like to extend the same freedom we enjoy to others, even others with whom we may disagree? Can freedom be for The Other?

It must be for The Other, because The Other comes in the form of every person we meet whether Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Jew. Do I try to control The Other? If I do, I deny the freedom Christ grants to all.

This is our basic problem. We are uncomfortable with the freedom of trust and grace. So, we try to protect this kind of freedom by legislation (in our churches, homes, friendships, places of work, and governance) but we fail to take into account that the act of legislating freedom may destroy it if it stems from an innate need to be in control.

I cannot control another, but I find myself trying all the time. If we are honest, pastors must confess the bait and switch games we play with our parishioners. In exchange for keeping in step with the lines we would dictate, we give them “freedom” in the form of approval. But the attempt to make others “keep in step” stems from a heart of unfreedom.

We simply cannot discover joy without trusting the grace of freedom. Because trust involves risk, freedom is risk. Because it all boils down to risk, whom we trust first makes all the difference.

If we trust in God, we find that he is able to set us free. Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” This is because there is no freedom greater than God’s freedom. He is the only King who sets us free; when he created us he gave us freedom—freedom to choose love or not.  If he didn’t want us to be free, he wouldn’t have made us in freedom. Since he made us free, he defines freedom. Since he defines it, all true freedom finds its basis in him.

So, how did we become slaves? Control. And why do we control? Because of the potential to be hurt by the abuse of freedom. And what causes this abuse? A darkened, untrusting heart that results in sin, which results in hurt, which results in more untrust, which leads to less free living. And on and on it goes, in a seemingly endless cycle.

Fortunately, this is not the end of the story.

So, what is the cure? For a start, forgiveness. When we receive forgiveness we are free. When we extend it, we free others—and the bitterness that potentially controls us.

But God’s freedom does not stop with forgiveness, thankfully. We are not merely forgiven. To continue living in freedom is nothing less than to live life as a trusting child. This is a moment-by-moment, day-by-day kind of life. There is no shortcut. It involves risk which opens you up to hurting and being hurt—which opens us up to the basis of forgiveness, again and again and again.

Since the Son provided limitless forgiveness by his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, we can be truly free. That is why Jesus said if he sets you free, you are free indeed.

But, is it possible for us to live in freedom without having to return to the starting point of forgiveness over and over again? In one sense, no; in another sense, I hope so!

This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. The process of learning to live in God’s freedom is what the Christian calls “sanctification.” To be made holy is to grow in freedom. (An astounding thought, isn’t it? A radical thought!)

It boils down to a question: Is the Spirit able to guide us, shape and mold our hearts such that we will possess the wisdom to know when freedom is honored or abused? Yes, if we let him guide us and listen to his guiding voice—and stay close to his loving heart.  

You may wonder why these reflections on freedom took a distinctly “Christian” turn. Well, one reason is that I happen to be a Christian minister. That said, I choose to be a Christian because I like to think that Christianity is big enough to extend this freedom to all, irrespective of any particular religion or worldview. This is so because I happen to believe that, essentially, the freedom of forgiveness and trust is something I can grant to anyone, whether Christian or not. And that is something others grant to me—because, let’s face it, I’m not perfect.

We have the ability to grant this freedom to others because we have received it from God. To use a Scriptural phrase: “We love because he first loved us.”

As a Christian, I happen to believe that the practice of forgiveness and trust will enable all humans to flourish. The Christian should extend this grace to all and encourage others to extend this grace as well. As we do so, everyone will grow in freedom. This is what God wants. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

May we understand freedom. May we live in such a way as to honor it. May we extend it to others. May we relinquish our need to control.