7/1/12 Rev. David McArthur
July. Freedom. We only get freedom if we are willing to do self love. Otherwise we let a lot of things hang on and control us.
Lao Tzu, in the Tao Te Ching, wrote, “The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.”
Anita Moorjani, as a girl at a Catholic school in Hong Kong and a Hindu of Indian heritage, was very much the outsider in her classes. Repeatedly the subject of cruel bullying throughout her school years, she recalled, as an adult dying of cancer, how so much of the time she had felt bad about herself. But she knew that being bound this way was not ok. In her near death experience she saw how this led to her deadly cancer. However, she also saw this wasn’t who she was at all—but that she was a magnificent spiritual being, and that should never be hidden. “I am a magnificent spiritual being!” Filled with this knowledge her body would not support the cancer, and on what was expected to be her deathbed, she became free of the cancer.
The way to spiritual freedom is forgiveness. We are trapped in perceptions of ourselves which are not true. Forgive yourselves and those “bullies” in your memories. They have journeyed with you long enough.
Steve Backman, trying to deal with his “bullies” by drinking, drove his car one night into one driven by Chris Loukas. With nearly every bone in his body broken, Chris Loukas hovered near death in a coma for six weeks, but eventually roused. Finally, unable to tolerate his anguish any longer, Steve braved the Loukas family and asked if he might see Chris. He begged Chris’ forgiveness, and Chris opened his arms and they hugged and wept. And they both were freed.
Enter into freedom through forgiveness—of others and of yourself. Love yourself enough to let go of all that stuff! Be free. Be who you really are—a magnificent spiritual being! It starts when you love yourself enough to let go of yourself. “Because she loves herself enough she is fulfilled.” “I choose to be free and live in my fulfillment.” When you make that choice it really gets fun!