Spiritual Freedom

Spiritual Freedom

by Leslie Woods

Two weeks ago, I had the joy of participating in a Juneteenth Celebration at Unity Village. I had so many emotions well up that the only way they came out was in tears. Happy tears. Sad tears. Angry tears. Contemplative tears. Happy because I was celebrating a freedom of almost all people. There are still forms of slavery today. Sad tears because it took so long for Juneteenth to even become a national holiday. Sad because we still have so far to go when it comes to inclusion, equity, and diversity for all people. Angry because we still have that far. Contemplative because freedoms are in jeopardy, and I contemplate what is mine to do.

Quite honestly, Supreme Court rulings of recent have me quite perplexed and the 4th of July, Independence, hits a little differently for me this year. Yes, I have political questions. No, I won't get into those here. What I will get into is Spiritual Freedom. Charles Fillmore stated, "We can never know the full meaning of freedom until we abide in the Christ consciousness. Without prayer and spiritual meditation there can be no concept of spiritual freedom." In the coming weeks, I will be sharing messages about Spiritual Freedom and how important it is for us to stay centered in our Christ consciousness. For those of you that are new to the term Christ consciousness, it simply means the awareness of the divinity, God-spark, Light that is within everyone. Everyone.

Oddly enough, one focus will be on the fact that surrender brings us freedom - spiritual freedom. What? Surrender? Really? Every human part in my being sends out a heels dug deep in the ground, stiff legged, NOPE! That is, until I determine who I am surrendering to. My surrender is to God - the loving, supportive, all-knowing, everywhere present God. I have come to learn that when I trust and surrender, everything always works out for my highest good. Since I have learned to do this surrendering thing more often, I have found that the good unfolds faster. Things really start to take shape when I realize that I am getting in my own way. I hate it when it takes me long to see that my worrying or need to control hinders me. Alas, I give a good exhale, take note of what I am doing, and surrender.

Giving is another way to freedom. I find that the more that I give - time, gifts, monetary support, love, smiles - the more I get back. And when I see that circle of abundance in full play, worry happens less and less. Nature reminds me of abundance and giving. Nature is absolutely busy doing its thing, but it seems to me that it does so without getting in its own way. I am reminded of when hurricane Harvey arrived at the gulf coast of Texas. My brother-in-law shared that it was so weird to notice the absence of birds both before and after the storm. They did what nature beaconed them to do, the left when necessary and returned when safe. Their world, the home, was stripped away. Yet they returned, restored and rebuilt. Nature provided them everything they needed.

Gratitude releases the weight of what holds us back. When we are open to receive and a grateful, we have to put down the heavy, unenjoyable stuff so that we can carry the good. Once we set down the weighty items, we can see them from a different perspective and see the lesson in them. The magic here is when that happens, when we see the lesson, then we can even have some gratitude for the weighted item. Of course, we are not grateful for trauma or the difficult things that happen in our life. However, gratitude for learning boundaries, red flags, new ways of caring for oneself after those events is good and healing.

Speaking of caring for oneself, there is freedom in self-care as well. Self-care, not in the manicure, pedicure, spa days, although those are nice. But big, huge, self-love, self-care like treating your body-temple with kindness, setting boundaries, doing things to enrich your spiritual journey, being open to receiving loving kindness, and oh, the best one - saying "No." The freedom in accepting that you are holy and sacred brings more opportunities to love on yourself with self-care. And that my friends, is freeing!

So, while current events my leave us in quandary, I encourage you to seek spiritual freedom. It will give you the energy, knowledge, and power to do what God has called you to do and be. Let freedom ring!