How To Get Free

You can read Amaris' comment from yesterday's post on No Vision No Policy, to see what motivated me to write today's post. Here's what she asked me:

There is a block when we try to move into freedom and I think that some of these reasons are why. So my last question is, what are some practical things we can do to help ourselves and others move into freedom? We are going to feel the slap of the fresh air, we can t escape that, so now where do we go?

This is my quick answer:

1. First of all I think we need to have an honest appraisal of ourselves. We need to observe honestly all that is going on in our brains. I think we need to realize how enslaved we are. I know so many people enslaved by a vision of what they think they should be or what others think they should be. I was just talking with a young woman this morning who doesn't feel free to make her own life-decision out of fear of disappointing her parents' dream for her. We need to recognize, in our own minds, the things that we are enslaved by... even the very noble and acceptable things. That is the first step.
2. The next step is automatic. I believe that when we recognize our enslavements, we are immediately before an open door and within an opened room. About 11 years ago I was feeling completely trapped and hopeless in a church situation. I had a dream one night and woke up the next day a free man. Nothing had changed except my thinking. My mind had changed, and I was free. Life's never been the same since. When we recognize and name our captors in our own minds, they immediately turn into vapor.
3. The next step is to practice your liberty. Act free! Expect opposition. Expect to disappoint people. Expect to get shot at. A truly liberated person is often quite offensive. But those who hunger and thirst for freedom are inspired by such people. Live free and speak free and others will take their cue from you. You can't make people be free, but only describe what this freedom is and live it. Take marriage for example. Lisa and I have been married for over 27 years. I prefer young lovers to watch us live and love each other rather than sit down and be counseled and taught by us. Same with freedom. If you think, live, and speak as a free person, others around you will explore the possibility for themselves.

I'm sorry if this is way too simplistic. But I honestly believe it is as simple as that. This isn't to say it isn't hard. It requires much courage and energy to examine ourselves. That is the hardest part. If you succeed here, the rest is gravy. The fine art photograph is the creation of my daughter Casile (on the right), and is a photo of herself and her friend Emily.