free
"Nothing wrong with the truth
when the truth can set us free"
(societyVS)
hmmm. what if that truth doesn't set us free? what if that truth actually imprisons us in a causality cage where we are sentenced to live in a box with the consequences of our actions/decisions?
how's that truth feel? is that freedom?
a friend of mine is living there now... and yet would argue that he is experiencing the first actual freedom he's had in years. there's something amazingly liberating about no longer having to check over your shoulder; no longer having to run from the facts that may yet overtake you; no longer having to remember the lies you've told to cover up the lies you've told.
mark twain had something to say about the virtue inherent in that of kind of truth.
i don't think that it is truth that is hard to work with in the classic adage (taken from a larger passage on cause, effect, integrity and identity in john 8.31-40 that is a crucial read) alluded to by societyVS...
it's this whole elusive notion of freedom.
***
words from the cell- YOU decide what freedom means:
I have not felt this "alive" for a very long time.
If my wife and closest friends were asked how I am doing
(and by the way, theyre reading this)
I would bet the farm that theyd say
"Torchie has really changed for the better. He went MIA but he has now been found. We have him back again!"
I am enjoying the freedom Jesus meant for me to have over [addictions, indiscretions] and the damning accusations that are associated with these. My freedom is a by-product of the rich satisfaction that comes from knowing and loving God. My knowledge of and love for God has been significantly influenced by a daily diet of Scripture and prayer as well as the encouragement and counsel of my wife and trusted friends.
Listen Everyone:
I DONT EVER WANT TO GO BACK TO WHERE I HAVE COME FROM.
(torchie)
***
i rose above these sterile sheets
a cold sweat left behind
a departure from a living death
delivered just in time
the plot had thickened to the point
where there was little hope to see
the antagonist had raised his fist
no option was open to me
but for a deus ex machina
a god in the machine
an unexpected reversal comes about
like awakening from a bad dream
with the swing of the playwright's pen
life returns to me again
now the show can have a happy ending
by faith, for freedom's haste, the seasons change
it's never too late to whirl around
move the other way
i have seen mornings robbed of light
nights as bright as day
the future is changeable- the past is set
finally i understand
hardest to grasp is that circumstance
is successfully countermand
by deus ex machina
God in the machine
an unexpected reversal comes about
like awakening from a bad dream
with the swing of the playwright's pen
life returns to me again
now the show can have a happy ending
by faith, for freedom's haste, the seasons change
by faith, for freedom's haste, the seasons change
posted by jollybeggar at
7:53 AM
2 Comments:
Wow...you actually posted something on here.
I think what I mean by truth and freedom is facing up to the reality of a situation - when looked at with brutal honesty - tends to break our hearts at what we have become - or can become.
I do this quite a bit (internal audit of sorts) and I am yet to find a truth about myself - or about the world in general - that doesn't make me change into a better person - when I quit making excuses for myself and my behaviors. And you know what - facing up is painful and hard - but in then process I am healed (time after time).
I can say for a fact 'the truth sets me free' - in the sense that I see clearly my faults and human weaknesses - and I go through the valley of death/pain - just to get to the point where I accept that truth and then deal with it honestly and sincerely (just me and God in the room as an analogy - from Matthew 6). I realize that seeing yourself for who you really are and dealing with your hurts and problems - well - 'sets you free' - as seen in the story you gave about 'torchie'. He just got honest with himself - and there were likely parts of himself he did not enjoy when he looked in his internal mirror.
"I am yet to find a truth about myself - or about the world in general - that doesn't make me change into a better person - when I quit making excuses for myself and my behaviors."
nicely put. i believe so strongly in the last bit that i gave up blogging for lent last year... it seemed that i was often making excuses for not getting things done, while continuing to maintain fresh posts on three blogs.
priorities, man...
figure it out, jb!
yeah, so when you tease about my not posting anything in awhile, i am actually okay with that- it means that i have succeeded to some degree in the attending to other things needing attention and entrusted to my care... one of them, interestingly enough, has been the odyessy of my friend torchie and the role that God has called me to play in that journey.
dang- listen to me excusing.
old habits die hard...
enabled yet again!
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