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In the conquest of freedom |
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"You were
called to
freedom, but
do not use
freedom,
favoring
dissoluteness;
instead,
sanctify
freedom
through
love,
seeking to
serve”. Paul
(Galatians
5:13).
Let us
meditate on
the freedom
with which
the Christ
has freed us
from the
shackles of
ignorance
and cruelty,
for it is
about this
freedom that
the Apostle
Paul speaks
to us.
No one on
Earth was
freer than
the Divine
Master. Free
even from
possession,
from
tradition,
from
kinship,
from
authority.
However, no
one but Him
has become
enslaved to
the Higher
Ideas to
benefit and
enlighten
the world,
affirms the
spiritual
benefactor
Emmanuel in
the book Words
of Eternal
Life,
lesson 133.
A lot is
said about
freedom for
young
people,
freedom is
demanded for
children,
but if we
keep a close
eye on what
is going on
our lives,
we will
realize the
need for
discipline
for a
healthy and
safe growing
up. The
steering
wheel
without
compliance
with traffic
laws, for
example,
leads to
painful
accidents
for all
those
involved.
To seek
freedom in
Jesus is to
experience
His
teachings.
It is not
just having
Him beside
us, but
inside us.
It is to
understand
the meaning
of His words
that He will
be with us
until the
end of all
ages, until
we learned.
We are
millions of
beings who
pass through
life as if
it were an
amusement
park. We
look at
everything
and notice
nothing. We
experiment a
little here,
a little
there,
without
realizing
what is
happening
around us.
And we can
mention
neglect,
contempt, or
indifference
to what
happens to
Nature, of
which we are
an integral
part, for we
need it to
survive.
Thus,
trapped in
the shackles
of
indifference
and
laziness,
many of us
do not
remember to
do something
for the
collective
good, always
needing
someone to
wake us up
for that
reality, for
the freedom
we have to
do something
for the
community in
which we are
inserted.
And we do
not speak of
great
accomplishments,
but of small
attitudes
that serve
as examples
for those
who
accompany us
on this
journey on
the planet
that
welcomes us
so kindly
for this new
reincarnation.
It is the
paper on the
floor, the
misuse of
vacancies
reserved for
the elderly
and
wheelchair
users; the
garbage bag
in the
public
street,
clogging the
manhole; it
is the
improper use
of reserved
places for
special
passengers
in public
transport;
finally, it
is the
disrespect
with what
belongs to
all of us,
as if it
were private
property.
The
spiritual
benefactors
warn of a
very
interesting
fact in this
regard: if
we already
have some
evangelical
knowledge,
we can, in
addition to
doing our
part, help
those
companions
who are
still
handcuffed
in illusory
fantasies to
reborn. And
the best way
is to show
them that it
is possible,
yes, to do
something
for our
neighbor,
for the life
that
pulsates
around.
Emmanuel
also reminds
us that it
is not
enough to
recommend
someone to
do this or
that, this
way or that.
The one who
advises
virtue and
service
should
prepare the
understanding
of the other
by his
example. It
is similar
to the
teacher who
requires the
student to
read a text
without
teaching him
to read.
The Apostle
Paul's
warning
about the
use of
freedom is
quite
expressive,
for the
greatest
value of the
relative
independence
we enjoy
lies in the
possibility
of helping
each other,
glorifying
good,
exalting
love of
neighbor, as
the Exalted
Friend
invites us
to do.
We are
invigilating
in our daily
behavior,
and we may
be surprised
by people
who seek to
constrain us
to read the
booklet of
reality
through
their eyes -
and not ours
- and to
interpret
daily
teachings
through
their eyes -
and not
through
ours. They
distort the
precepts of
truth,
fantasize
facts, and
set traps
for our
pride and
selfishness
- still so
present in
this
planetary
existence -
leading us
to
rebellion,
pessimism,
addiction,
and
uselessness.
We are easy
targets
because we
have not yet
awakened to
the truth of
the Christ
who
constantly
and
relentlessly
invites us
to change
our intimate
dispositions
for
spiritual
growth. We
are
reluctant,
because we
insist on
knowing more
than Him; in
imagining
that we know
our needs
more than He
does; and to
think that
we have a
lot of time
ahead and
that we must
"enjoy
life".
We should
therefore be
careful not
to be
limited in
our freedom
to act, to
think and to
feel. Jesus
makes us
emancipated
sons of
Creation,
not slaves
of fanciful
systems. It
is better to
be vigilant
in regard to
what Jesus
has taught
us, without
misrepresentations,
without vain
illusions,
truly
feeling the
need to find
this
magnification
in love and
wisdom,
through work
in the good,
knowledge of
the truth
that frees
and the
initiative
of seeking
the best way
to become
good.
Emmanuel
insists on
reminding us
that man
will always
enjoy
parole, and
within it he
may alter
the course
of his
existence by
the good or
bad use of
such a
faculty in
his
relationships.
However, it
is necessary
to recognize
that there
are few who
use the
freedom they
possess in
an edifying
way.
It is
possible to
highlight
some
situations
in which
this
happens:
before the
offender, we
choose
reprisal,
even if
mentally; in
the face of
slander, we
prefer to
retaliate;
before
moments of
incomprehension,
in the place
of
brotherhood
and
benevolence,
we demand
reparation.
God does
grant
relative
freedom to
all of us,
but he
observes our
conduct. For
all this, it
is important
to
understand
that if we
want to be
free, we
must learn
to obey,
assimilating
from Christ
the sense of
discipline,
working to
extinguish
moral vices
and
imperfections,
fighting our
rebelliousness
to the
divine laws
so present
in our
attitudes,
because we
want to have
our whims
and desires
taken care
of
regardless
of whether
they are
useful or
not for the
necessary
spiritual
evolution.
These
disdainful
attitudes
towards the
Master's
teachings
keep us
still
attached to
the things
of the
Earth,
slaves of
feelings
contrary to
the love
that He
taught us,
causing us
to continue
suffering
afflictions,
anguishes,
fears...
Ingratitude,
incomprehension,
and
hypocrisy
are some
heavy
handcuffs
that hold us
back in
these states
of imbalance
and
suffering.
We need to
get out of
the shadow
of "I do
what I want"
for the
freedom of "I
should serve,"
which
generates
progress and
sublimation.
"It is right
to always
think about
all this,
because only
when we
attend to
the living
teachings of
Jesus in
everything,
can we break
the bondage
of the world
in favor of
eternal
liberation," says
the esteemed
spiritual
benefactor.
And if we
have already
reached a
ray of light
of the
Gospel, let
us advance
towards the
Divine
Liberator,
Our Lord
Jesus
Christ. We
know that
such a
journey is
not easy,
but we can
do it with
determination,
even if we
find, on the
way, those
who invite
us to
indiscipline
and
stagnation.
The Master
is at the
helm and we
have the
strength to
row. Let us
go on, then!
Bibliography:
XAVIER, F.C.
- Words
of Eternal
Life,
dictated by
the Spirit
Emmanuel -
20th
edition, CEC
Edition,
Uberaba /MG
- lessons
17, 28 and
133 - 1995.
___________
- Fonte
Viva,
31st
edition,
FEB, Rio de
Janeiro / RJ
- lesson 172
- 2005.
Translation:
Eleni
Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br