requires that we dive deep and feel, really feel what is under- neath. This is where we will be set free. The story is told of a scientist
Freedom in Our Depths W
illingness is the first component to true freedom. Freedom
who had created the most beauti- ful butterfly in the land. Everyone had heard the news of the glorious new birth. The day came and the inner struggle began within the cocoon. The newly formed butterfly must now work its way out of its womb. The scientist became overly concerned when other great scien- tists came to watch and his newly formed butterfly seemed stuck. The scientist could stand it no longer. The swift scalpel cut freed the butterfly. Flap, flap, went its wings, flap, flap. Soon nothing. The scien- tist momentarily forget that the struggle for freedom from the womb, the cocoon, gives the butterfly the strength to fly. Strength was found due to the struggle for freedom. There are times when we may find
ourselves struggling or even fighting with our thoughts and emotions. We may feel that something must be done in a certain way or not at all, or there may be some other situa- tion that feels absolutely black and white. But life is not this way - it’s the way we are look-
by Rev. Lana Charlton
ing at our experiences that is causing the tur- moil within us. When we become aware that the struggle we are having is with ourselves, we can turn our attention to the source in order to solve the problem, but we must be willing to look where we need to and feel emotions that may make us uncomfortable at first and keep us stuck. Emotional freedom opens the way to understanding options we might not have ever thought of. We are likely to discover that we are resisting something based on a limited understanding, and we must then open ourselves to willingness. When we are willing to look at all the
possibilities, we also become willing to accept that there is room for more than we can imagine. We can release our- selves from the grip we had on our emo- tions and stop limiting ourselves. We may have been unwilling to experience feeling loss, confusion, fear, or even joy for some reason or another, but when we realize that our understanding was limited, we allow space for the universe to move in our lives. We begin to taste the sweetness of freedom. Going deeper, we know that true freedom lives in, as us. Edison wrote, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” Open- ing ourselves to willingness may feel like we are surrendering or abandoning all that we believed. But at the same time it is an act of power and courage because it is a conscious choice we make about how to apply our personal will. Being willing is to be in a state of willing something into creation. It is at once allowing ourselves to be while also choosing to direct our energy in a focused way. It is being and doing from a place of openness, where we can work with the universe rather than resist it. It is an open hand rather than one that is clenched into a fist. When we make a step toward willing- ness, we open ourselves to real freedom, truth, possibility, and the movement of the wise universe in and through our lives. Freedom is not easy to achieve.
Biblically, Paul suggests that we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind. It is easy to gloss over the first part of that scripture which suggests, “Be not conformed to this world.” Rom 12:2. From womb on, the world “conforms” us pretty quick. Maybe a seed of “You’re not good in math!” was planted and took root in the garden of your young mind. It is hard to pull those long roots out, when faced with the freedom to learn math anew. Is your mind renewable or, has your mind been conformed?
“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be
bestowed; it must be achieved.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Rev. Lana Charlton is the senior minister
at Unity Gateway Church, Coral Springs, FL and writes for numerous worldwide, national, and local publications. See ad next page.
24 Broward County, Florida
http://FtL.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com
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