Freedom. We long for it with all our hearts. We pursue it with every ounce of our being. We feel anguish when it seems like we are trapped. We come alive when we break free from the shackles that enslave us. And yet. And yet it is so elusive. It seems like it is always just outside of our reach. Like a young boy trying to catch the wind, we all end up chasing and longing and running after something that seems like it can never be caught. Freedom always seem to be just one step away. We’re 16 and longing for the “freedom” to drive when we reach our 17th birthday. We’re single and longing for the “freedom” that marriage will bring and no longer having to find a man. We’re married and longing for the “freedom” to be single again and free from marital responsibilities. The list goes on. Why does freedom always seems to be some place else?

What is this thing we call freedom? And what is it that we are actually longing for? Whatever stage of life or circumstances we find ourselves in, we have a tendency to see that as a trap, holding us in and limiting our freedom. But when we then move into the freedom of that circumstance that we desired, we end up feeling trapped there and longing for something else again. We get sucked into a life of perpetual disappointment and dissatisfaction. Is that what we are all destined for?

Something within the human spirit knows that we were designed for freedom. Interestingly, the first recorded conversation in the Bible between God and mankind begins with three simple words: “You are free…”. Amazing. When you look at so many religious people, you’d have no idea that God designed humanity to be free. Rules, regulations, and endless “thou shalt nots” have portrayed God in a terrible light. It is no wonder so many people feel that God is a kill-joy, creating pointless rules, and effectively wanting to make our lives miserable. And yet, when you consider the words of the Man so many Christians claim to follow, a very different picture starts to emerge. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” Jesus said to His followers. And when He talked about His purpose, here’s what he said: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” Whatever your thoughts and beliefs about Jesus Christ, His message seems vastly different from that portrayed by so many of the religious people I’ve encountered.

So, what is freedom?

None of this really brings us any closer to understanding just exactly what freedom is or what living free looks like. Is it for there to be no rules and no boundaries? Is that freedom? Is it the ability to choose? Is freedom having the power to make choices? It was as I was thinking about some of these questions that I turned to some of the opening pages of the book of Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve. Whether or not we believe they were literal people who once existed isn’t really the issue here; I simply wanted to see what might emerge out of that story that might give us some clues about this question of freedom.

Here’s what it says in the second chapter of Genesis: “Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die.“”

You’re probably wondering how this helps! And you may well be jumping straight to the last sentence where God gives a “you must not” followed by an apparent death threat. But this, I think, is where so many people - particularly Christians - miss it. Before God says “you must not…” He says, “You are free…”. Too many religious people have been all too quick to skip straight over that freedom and miss what God actually seems to be saying. I don’t know about you, but when I grew up and heard this story of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden, I pictured in my minds eye something somewhat similar to the garden I played in every day as a child. And, as such, I imagined there being this HUGE tree in the middle that was like a really in your face reminder of what you couldn’t do! Looking back at this story though, this is miles from the mark. There is no way that my garden growing up was big enough to have four rivers flowing through it! Which makes you think, this garden must have been enormous. This was no small garden on the back of someones house. This was a huge jungle to explore. And God’s seems to be saying, “Look all around you. As far as you can see and beyond that too is yours to enjoy. Every tree that bears fruit is there for you to taste and eat.” What an amazing invitation. What freedom! They were given a whole new world to explore and enjoy. With just one exception. There was one tree that God said they couldn’t eat from.

The one tree

Why is this one tree such a big deal? Why did Adam and Eve get drawn to this one tree they couldn’t eat from when there were thousands of other trees which they were free to enjoy? It is this question that led to the thought that I shared yesterday: Freedom is found within the boundaries that the forbidden blinds us to. Adam and Eve were blinded to the freedom that was theirs for the taking because of the one thing that was forbidden. By focusing on the forbidden they were blinded to the possibilities all around them. And oh how often we end up doing the same thing! We focus our attention on the things that are out of reach and end up convincing ourselves that we aren’t free. We become certain that freedom will be found if we can just embrace that which is forbidden. But here’s the thing, we end up less free as a result and not freer. Instead of enjoying the life that is there to enjoy, we become a slave to that which we can’t have but think will lead to freedom.

To be continued…

technorati tags: the future now, freedom

This entry was posted on Friday, August 11th, 2006 at 5:08 pm and is filed under Life, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.