The Burden of Freedom

I stand on the stairway, my back to the dungeon. The doorway to freedom so close to my hand.  And voices behind me, so bitterly damn me, for seeking salvation. They don’t understand.  Lord help me to shoulder this burden of freedom and give me the courage to be what I can.”   (Burden of Freedom, Kris Kristofferson)

Many of us have or are currently struggling with the burden of freedom that Torah gives us.  We, like Mr. Kristofferson, may be wrestling with the voices behind us. The voices of family and friends, strangers and others that just want to help us "come to our senses."

Kate Shalk, in an article for Activism, (11-1-06) Can I Live Up to the Gift of Freedom?  states:  “I often think of freedom as a burden, the fact that I have limitless choices to be anyone I want to be or not. It scares the h… out of me. The burden to choose responsibly and wisely for myself on a personal, civil and spiritual level. Do I believe in a God or don’t I? Do I care about the environment enough to actually make choices that protect it? Do I care enough about my neighbour to make choices that actually benefit my neighbour, my friend, my co-worker?  I often choose not to experience the freedom of being who I am, to explore who I am, to risk and choose wrongly.”

Reading the above,  ponder a bit about the two greatest commandments.  When I choose not to experience the freedom of being who I am, and also question if  I care enough about my neighbor, am I then kidding myself about my Torah compliant life?  What factors come into play for me to shy away from the freedom to be who I am?   Could it be the same trigger that prevents me from caring about my neighbor? 

Most people focus on ‘freedom’ and overlook ‘responsibility’.  In my researching this question, I find the common denominator is RESPONSIBILITY.  When I choose to permit myself to be the me that I believe is myself, then I am responsible for all that follows.  Whether it is accepted by others, rejected by others, laughed at, scorned, loved, despised, etc. etc. etc.  When I do not permit myself to be the me that I perceive is myself, then I am a slave to my environment and not to my Creator.          

Myles Munroe’s book The Burden of Freedom gives excellent examples of why we have so much difficulty in accepting responsibility for ourselves. [a euphemistic way of saying, ‘what prevents us from getting Egypt out of our programmed minds and becoming a slave to Torah’.]  Look at how we train our pets.  We can take a horse, place him in a fenced pasture, put up electric wire and within a brief time he will not go near the fence. Then we can take down the wire and leave the gate open. He will not go near the fence until we reprogram him.  This is the same for us.  We have been programmed with so much controlling thoughts that we have to be reprogrammed.  We leave the path we were on looking for some truth and yet want to have the same structure that we experienced on the path we were following (church).  We are guided by the fullness of the Bible to reprogram ourselves.  We are even cautioned to know more than the Torah teachers.  This means we must study to show ourselves approved.  We cannot be approved on the backs of another man.  We must be responsible in order to enjoy the freedom. 

Freedom can be very challenging.  When we were brought out of Egypt, we were physically ready for another place to dwell, but we were not mentally prepared.  We needed time to get rid of the old stinking thinking and begin a new way of life.  We became the mixed multitude looking for some reason for being.  

We must fully grasp our purpose in life.  …loving YHVH your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him - for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land YHVH swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov." (Deuteronomy 30:20 CJB)  Apparently, He created us for this very purpose. But the old habits keep popping up.

In his book The Burden of Freedom, Myles Munroe states that people use old oppression as a reason not to exercise new freedom.  I believe this is valid. Listen around  you to those who excuse away not speaking up for the truth by saying they do not want to upset the family, friends, etc.  I have been in discussion with some who keep the Sabbath and say they love every minute of it, and continue to keep the sunday worship.   They tell me they are ‘working on their friends to come join them”.  I don’t disagree with encouraging friends to come join.  But, it takes leadership and responsibility.   If we don’t lead, who will follow? All the while, the friends in the sunday worship are waiting for this person to come to their senses and return to the pew.  A drunk that wants sobriety does not keep going to the bar to get his friends to join him.  It takes responsibility for oneself to make the change.  It takes courage to become Torah compliant no matter how many voices we hear from behind as we move forward searching for the promise to come.  Redemption has been granted, through no act of our own. The rest is up to us.  We must be responsible or we lose our freedom. The rest of the song says: “But I’m free to travel where no one can follow, in search of the kingdom, they don’t understand” Be ready for the freedom that will soon follow.  Torah assures us freedom. Freedom spelled SALVATION. Only in the end will we know if we were responsible enough. 

Renew Your Mind! (Romans 12:2)

Shalom and be blessed  

Pinchas a/k/a Frankly speaking