Those of us in the United States remember our country was built on a desire and passion for freedom. Yet I notice many do not feel free these days - free from fighting with one another, free from angst, from fear. We are victims of our own anger and projection of our shortcomings. We are bombarded, consumed with tension, chaos, and attacking one another. We miss friends and family from which recent events have separated us, both physically and emotionally. We long for times when our dream of love and peace, of security and good-will, of cooperation and mutual caring are the rule.
A guy revered by many, Jesus, once said, "The truth will set you free." And it is in resisting truth our problem lies.
Not surprisingly, Jesus' comment meshes with one of the Course In Miracles lessons (#27), "Above all else, I want to see."
If we want to escape the world of self-created suffering, we must be willing to see the truth. Our egos tempt us to believe 'only I have the truth', 'I'm right and you're wrong', and 'If you would change, everything would get better." If each of us insists that only we have the truth, we will stop looking for it, and we will not find it.
We all know people who are not open to learning what they don't know. They are frustrating to be with, aren't they? We cannot overcome the fears people have of facing the truth. What we can do is insist on being committed to seeing the truth ourselves - and, with those who are open, have a commitment to finding it together. That is the path to freedom.
In order to do this, we must set aside our prejudices, what we've been taught in the past, our allegiances to hanging onto what we believed before was right, and be open to the search. We must see people as innocent, troubled, bound by fear, too frightened that the truth will destroy them, when they do not yet know the truth will set them free. If you're one of those who thinks the truth doesn't matter, or that you can't really find out the truth, or are committed to what you or others have made up is the truth without checking it out, it is one way you seal yourself off from the happiness you desire. We think being right will set us free, but no, it is the truth that will set us free. If we are not willing to challenge our own beliefs, we can never enjoy experiencing our connection as siblings in the same family of the God who created us all.
In order for freedom to reign in this county, we must find a way to agree on how to determine the truth, or we cannot unite around it. We must be willing to explore together how to find out what the truth really is. The only way this is possible is if each one of us loosens the grip on our ego, and commits to finding the truth, to be open that our perceptions of the past may have been incomplete. We must be willing to drop our defenses, look for what is, even if it's uncomfortable, if we are to win back our freedom.
Today I commit to search for the truth, and invite all human beings to join me. In doing so, we will finally set ourselves free.
