Freedom

The kind of freedom I am writing about tonight comes from the transition from a dark and depressed place into a joy of living. Change does take place and what goes down will eventually come up. Cycles are common in human beings just like the cycles of nature according to the seasons. We must, no matter how hard it becomes, to remember to keep our faith that difficulties and despair do pass. I keep coming back to the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi because it is so poignant and has to much truth. My blog on "A Legacy of Humility" that I wrote on January 27, 2012, was about the way he taught people to pray, e.g., "where there is darkness, let me sow light." Sometimes it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I  heard one time that is because often there is a turn in the tunnel, not because there is a dead end. We, and we alone, allow things to hurt us. No one can take away our spirits and things of the spirit. Joy is one of them along with who we are when we are gentle souls, our kindness, our compassion, our empathy, and our love whether it is of another person, an animal, or nature. There is a phrase about a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. As the story goes, the phoenix is a mythical bird with fiery plumage that lives up to 100 years. Near the end of its life, it settles in to its nest of twigs which then burns ferociously, reducing bird and nest to ashes. And from those ashes, a fledgling phoenix arises - renewed and reborn. Often when life gets the darkest and most frustrating it is easy to forget to have the faith that everything changes. Along with the prayer of St. Frances, I often write about the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5 in the Bible. See my "People of the Light" blog entry on April 5, 2012. As I wrote in yet another blog, I write about ideals, things to strive for, but to me this is what life is all about.  What is really important is how we feel about ourselves and others and how we treat ourselves and others, including how we treat our animals and the planet. Any time you say "my" you are referring to your ego which loves material things. And, by the way, the ego loves conflict and hates the present moment. And, if there is one thing I have tried to bring forth in these blogs and my own life, is to live in the here and now. Yes, we learn from the past and can make amends, but it is over, never to be repeated - not one word, not one action. Oh, and the future, well who knows where we go from here, let's just hope, that like the fledgling phoenix, we become renewed and reborn.