By Kate Noonan
Freedom means many different things. The freedom I want, deep in my soul, is freedom from the bondage of self. I spend too much time in my own mind, busy with my own plans and designs or worse busy regurgitating past faults, injuries or events. Perseverating is a terrible habit and a waste of time and not where God wants us to focus. Please know I don’t mean it’s not important to assess ourselves or better yet work with a trusted mentor who knows you well. A reasonable outside point of view is priceless. An external perspective is the opportunity for Good Orderly Direction. GOD often enters my thought process through another’s gentle point of view moving me further away from my own snares.
God omnipotence is such that God knows human traits much better than we could ever know ourselves. The tendencies of the ego are the same now as they were from the beginning of time. The very first of the 10 Commandments is: You shall have no other gods before me. ‘ Exodus 20:3 This law begs the question: am I the false god before God? Am I ultra consumed with my plans and designs, leaving no room for God? There is no mincing of words in this 1st Commandment. The message is clear: move over, clear the decks: I, the true I AM, have designs and authority beyond your wildest imaginings, dismiss all else and turn to me.
I suggest two ways to reframe your thinking, clean out the cache of your mind and move further away from the constraint of self.
Gratitude
One of the most sure fire ways to get right sized in the eyes of your maker and in your own mind is by cultivating a gratitude practice. Look around the big beautiful world created for us to enjoy and get ready to say thank you. Begin your day by writing three things you are grateful for and wrap up the day in the same way. Two things will happen as you bring a gratitude practice into your life day and night. As you head to sleep after listing what you are grateful for your mind settles into sleep with a gratitude focus. Trust me this is a much better focus than a list of what did not go well in the day. Additionally, gratitude is shown to create new neural connections associated with positive experiences.
Service
Get involved in the world right outside your front door. We could hardly begin to imagine the intricately interwoven communities of ancient Israel from our vantage point. Community for the Israelites was everything: food, safety, child rearing, shelter, education and faith. Today we are siloed with many choices. This type of modern day freedom is couched as independence yet it very often leaves us stuck navel gazing. Getting out in the world and being of service automatically leads us out of the bondage of self because it gives us an external focus and an enlightened purpose. Action in the world is exactly what is prescribed by Jesus: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40
My Uncle Frank Bice, one of the most faithful people I’ve had the pleasure to know, wrote and lived by the following motto: service makes you powerful, gratitude makes you invincible. Aligning your purpose to the principles of gratitude and service is exactly the recipe to get out of self. These tenets are the gateway to freedom. God’s glorious world shows itself and we are free to love those around us and be grateful for the opportunity to do so.
Kate Noonan
Pastoral Associate Faith Formation
Retreat Master & Spiritual Director
YDS ‘ 18
