A Free Soul

 As I look toward Independence Day this year, like so many of us, I am being called to reflect more deeply on the idea of freedom. 

I know that I have experienced a great many blessings  as a result of living in this country that hails as “the land of the free”. I whole heartedly applaud the noble ideals set forth by the Founders of this Nation. In seeking to expand their own freedom they also sought to carve the path for a Nation where all people could have access to such freedom. 

Economic and religious freedom were the initial driving forces behind these efforts. Inherent in such freedom was an assumed sense of physical freedom, enhnanced with the opportunity to explore a whole new land, and to reap the benefits of such exploration. A fantastic opportunity to be sure.

We now know that this opportunity of greater freedom for those new arrivals had a devastating cost for the Indigenous peoples already occupying these lands. Freedom would also be denied to those Africans who were forcibly removed from their land and shipped to this one, in service of the institution of slavery.

The fullness of freedom would not be granted to the women of this new Nation until 1920 with the passage of the 19^th amendment giving white women the right to vote. Women of color would wait another 45 years for that right.

Our history shows that the foundational understanding of freedom in our Nation, albeit a noble one, was indeed limited.

And yet, that foundation of freedom still remains. Like so much of life, our Nation’s foundation holds a continual opportunity to expand in expression along with the expansion of human consciousness.

May we all know and continue to grow into the fullest awareness of the Truth that sets us free!

As you consider this for yourself, I offer these foundational ideas of bondage and freedom from our Unity teachings. I invite you to take them into your prayer time this weekend, and notice what they illuminate within you.

“A free soul is no longer in bondage to limited beliefs” (Cady, 1916).

Unity Co-Founder Charles Fillmore offers this metaphysical definition of bondage:
“the undue attachment to thoughts in personal consciousness, such as class, race, gender, age or personality.”

•  What limited beliefs might you be in bondage to, and how do they limit your own sense of freedom?

“A sure sign of a free soul is one’s knowing the Truth about God, about oneself and about others. Furthermore, the free soul is willing to grant the same freedom to another that she/he desires for herself/himself” (Cady, 1916).

"Since we are created in the image and after the likeness of God, spiritual freedom is given to us as our birthright. However, while this freedom is ours in essence, it is like any inherent right -- it is only ours as we fulfill the conditions that enable us to claim it. Inability to grant the same liberty to other unfolding souls -- prevents our being free in actuality” (Cady, 1916).

• Consider how your own limited beliefs might also limit the freedom of others.

• How do you think that our "inability to grant freedom to other unfolding souls prevents our being free in actuality?"

     

 Join us for more on freedom this Sunday at 10am.

Cady, H. E. (1916). How I Used Truth. Lee's Summit : Unity School of Christianity.