In the conquest of freedom

"You were called to freedom, but do not use freedom, favoring dissoluteness; instead, sanctify freedom through love, seeking to serve”. Paul (Galatians 5:13).

Let us meditate on the freedom with which the Christ has freed us from the shackles of ignorance and cruelty, for it is about this freedom that the Apostle Paul speaks to us.

No one on Earth was freer than the Divine Master. Free even from possession, from tradition, from kinship, from authority. However, no one but Him has become enslaved to the Higher Ideas to benefit and enlighten the world, affirms the spiritual benefactor Emmanuel in the book Words of Eternal Life, lesson 133.

A lot is said about freedom for young people, freedom is demanded for children, but if we keep a close eye on what is going on our lives, we will realize the need for discipline for a healthy and safe growing up. The steering wheel without compliance with traffic laws, for example, leads to painful accidents for all those involved.

To seek freedom in Jesus is to experience His teachings. It is not just having Him beside us, but inside us. It is to understand the meaning of His words that He will be with us until the end of all ages, until we learned.

We are millions of beings who pass through life as if it were an amusement park. We look at everything and notice nothing. We experiment a little here, a little there, without realizing what is happening around us. And we can mention neglect, contempt, or indifference to what happens to Nature, of which we are an integral part, for we need it to survive.

Thus, trapped in the shackles of indifference and laziness, many of us do not remember to do something for the collective good, always needing someone to wake us up for that reality, for the freedom we have to do something for the community in which we are inserted. And we do not speak of great accomplishments, but of small attitudes that serve as examples for those who accompany us on this journey on the planet that welcomes us so kindly for this new reincarnation. It is the paper on the floor, the misuse of vacancies reserved for the elderly and wheelchair users; the garbage bag in the public street, clogging the manhole; it is the improper use of reserved places for special passengers in public transport; finally, it is the disrespect with what belongs to all of us, as if it were private property.

The spiritual benefactors warn of a very interesting fact in this regard: if we already have some evangelical knowledge, we can, in addition to doing our part, help those companions who are still handcuffed in illusory fantasies to reborn. And the best way is to show them that it is possible, yes, to do something for our neighbor, for the life that pulsates around.

Emmanuel also reminds us that it is not enough to recommend someone to do this or that, this way or that. The one who advises virtue and service should prepare the understanding of the other by his example. It is similar to the teacher who requires the student to read a text without teaching him to read.

The Apostle Paul's warning about the use of freedom is quite expressive, for the greatest value of the relative independence we enjoy lies in the possibility of helping each other, glorifying good, exalting love of neighbor, as the Exalted Friend invites us to do.

We are invigilating in our daily behavior, and we may be surprised by people who seek to constrain us to read the booklet of reality through their eyes - and not ours - and to interpret daily teachings through their eyes - and not through ours.  They distort the precepts of truth, fantasize facts, and set traps for our pride and selfishness - still so present in this planetary existence - leading us to rebellion, pessimism, addiction, and uselessness. We are easy targets because we have not yet awakened to the truth of the Christ who constantly and relentlessly invites us to change our intimate dispositions for spiritual growth. We are reluctant, because we insist on knowing more than Him; in imagining that we know our needs more than He does; and to think that we have a lot of time ahead and that we must "enjoy life".

We should therefore be careful not to be limited in our freedom to act, to think and to feel. Jesus makes us emancipated sons of Creation, not slaves of fanciful systems. It is better to be vigilant in regard to what Jesus has taught us, without misrepresentations, without vain illusions, truly feeling the need to find this magnification in love and wisdom, through work in the good, knowledge of the truth that frees and the initiative of seeking the best way to become good.

Emmanuel insists on reminding us that man will always enjoy parole, and within it he may alter the course of his existence by the good or bad use of such a faculty in his relationships. However, it is necessary to recognize that there are few who use the freedom they possess in an edifying way.

It is possible to highlight some situations in which this happens: before the offender, we choose reprisal, even if mentally; in the face of slander, we prefer to retaliate; before moments of incomprehension, in the place of brotherhood and benevolence, we demand reparation. God does grant relative freedom to all of us, but he observes our conduct. For all this, it is important to understand that if we want to be free, we must learn to obey, assimilating from Christ the sense of discipline, working to extinguish moral vices and imperfections, fighting our rebelliousness to the divine laws so present in our attitudes, because we want to have our whims and desires taken care of regardless of whether they are useful or not for the necessary spiritual evolution.

These disdainful attitudes towards the Master's teachings keep us still attached to the things of the Earth, slaves of feelings contrary to the love that He taught us, causing us to continue suffering afflictions, anguishes, fears...

Ingratitude, incomprehension, and hypocrisy are some heavy handcuffs that hold us back in these states of imbalance and suffering. We need to get out of the shadow of "I do what I want" for the freedom of "I should serve," which generates progress and sublimation.

"It is right to always think about all this, because only when we attend to the living teachings of Jesus in everything, can we break the bondage of the world in favor of eternal liberation," says the esteemed spiritual benefactor.

And if we have already reached a ray of light of the Gospel, let us advance towards the Divine Liberator, Our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that such a journey is not easy, but we can do it with determination, even if we find, on the way, those who invite us to indiscipline and stagnation.

The Master is at the helm and we have the strength to row. Let us go on, then!

Bibliography:

XAVIER, F.C. - Words of Eternal Life, dictated by the Spirit Emmanuel - 20th edition, CEC Edition, Uberaba /MG - lessons 17, 28 and 133 - 1995.

___________ - Fonte Viva, 31st edition, FEB, Rio de Janeiro / RJ - lesson 172 - 2005.

Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br