For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be free, having no idea of how this would or could be accomplished. I recall a feeble attempt to run away from home before I was 5 years old, by hiding in a friend’s trailer. I hid under their kitchen table, thinking no one would find me. Of course I was found and when my Mother brought me home to our tiny trailer, my thought was, I’m trapped. I was returned to what I perceived as my prison, being stuck in this tiny place having no freedom whatsoever.

Freedom for me has many facets. Ernest Holmes, who gave us the Science of Mind Philosophy, said, “The Divine plan is one of freedom. The inherent nature of man is ever seeking to express itself in terms of freedom, because freedom is the birthright of every living soul”. 

In the beginning of my conscious spiritual journey, I read or heard this powerful quotation. I asked myself this question. Is it possible to truly find what I have been seeking my whole life? I was inspired. Something opened up in me, reminding me that what I was looking for was close at hand. At that time, I didn’t know that freedom lived inside me and had always been there, I thought it was something I had to do, to accomplish, to pass the test in order to earn or deserve to experience it in life.

There is something I have learned over these travels of spiritual evolution, inspiration is everywhere. I used to think it all had to come out of church, the Holy God, spiritual practice, classes, workshop, retreats, the so called spiritual venues. All of that works and I now notice where inspiration shows up in the unlikely and most delightful of ways.

Recently I watched 60 Minutes, as I almost always do, and there was a story about a young man, who is now playing basketball in a college in Maine. The previous year , he was in a Connecticut prison, a place called The Rock, where up until a year or so ago, all the inmates were in their cells 22 hours a day. They were let out twice, an hour in the morning and afternoon. 

The Governor of Connecticut went to Germany and brought a program back to implement it in The Rock. Prisoners needed to apply for the T.R.U.E. Program, which stood for Truth, Respect, Understanding, Elevation to success.

As I watched this piece, I was continually struck by the incredible wisdom that was revealed by those in the program, doing what most of us are familiar with or at least want to experience, which is to be seen and heard, treated like a human being. There were conversations about love and compassion that came from the lifers who were mentors for the young men. Each one in this program has discovered they have value and purpose. Isn’t that what we all want. Most of these men remain in jail and yet there was a sense of freedom and belonging, that had never been experienced before. It is true, freedom is the birthright of every living soul.

I was inspired, encouraged, impressed and I opened my mind and heart even more to the idea of infinite possibilities that are always and forever presenting themselves to us. 

Invitation: 

I invite you to entertain the possibility that what you are seeking is actual available and attainable to you, it is your birthright.

Quote:

“The power and freedom God freely gives us allows us to express greatness, to build magnificent dreams and to call forth the good in our lives, but we must claim that freedom.” Mary Morrissey