Friday, March 30, 2007


My Own Prison
Originally uploaded by ryan_carville.

what is freedom? is it just doing what i want when i want?

Am I not then just a slave to my whims and fancies? What if my fancies are not really coming from me? Maybe I have desires that were placed in my head by others. Am I truly free if I follow those desires? What if I have instinctive drives that are harmful to myself? Can you call me free if I am bound by those drives? What about compulsive or addictive behavior? Bad habits? Can't you also be a slave to what you want?

True freedom is the ability to express who you really are. If there are levels to your personality that have not been explored, if your soul has not had the opportunity to be expressed, then you are not yet free.

"Passover is all about breaking out of our constraints, attaining personal freedom. Each of us is enslaved inwardly in some way or another and Passover helps us break out of our personal slavery and become free. Doing things that are beyond our comfort zone, pushing our limits for the sake of a higher purpose, a higher calling, actually liberates us.

I think this is a concept many people don't recognize. We think of slavery as someone else enslaving us, but in truth, we are often the ones enslaving ourselves. We are so busy being influenced by money, by society, by external pressures, that our true identity and abilities can be hidden.

It is this slavery that keeps people caught up in "Egypt," in the false safety net of their lives, in their external distractions, and it keeps people from going into the wilderness of their souls, from delving deeply into themselves.

It is only when we realize what we have within, that we can act from the inside out instead of the outside in." Matisyahu

4 comments:

Brian said...

I knew I liked that Matisyahu guy!

Anonymous said...

Good post. I really enjoy your blog.

mdwinn said...

hey guys thanks for the comments. most of this is stuff from a sweet site that is dedicated to jewish thought, i just read it the way i see it impacting my life.

i think there is much we can learn from our ancient brothers of the faith. i once read a book called the gospel according to moses: what my jewish friends taught me about jesus. i am fascinated by jewish/christian dialogue.

Melanie-Pearl said...

i truly believe that once we begin to understand this concept in our own lives, we begin to see others' enslavement/freedom in this light. God is dealing with each one of us...hopefully we stop to listen. hopefully we have grace with those who can't quite hear yet.

it is almost ridiculous how easily we can see this in others' lives but not in our own.

i pray constantly that i will be freed from the stuff i can't readily identify. i often feel it weighing me down, but i don't always stop to question its presence.

thanks for the reminder.