Tags
Free Will, Freedom, Gratitude, July 4th, Nature Awareness School, Spiritual Freedom, True Freedom
July 4th is a time when this country and those in it take a moment to reflect on freedom. A long time student of the Nature Awareness School did just this. She looked at the difference between earthly freedoms and ones more spiritual in nature and found it is when we transition from the “condensing” effects of fear, to the boundless state of Soul that we can experience freedom – true freedom. Enjoy!
These inspiring resources can help you on your way to spiritual freedom.
TRUE FREEDOM
As I was making plans to celebrate Independence Day this July 4th, I began to reflect on freedom and what it means to be free…truly free. The individual rights and freedoms we enjoy in this country (and maybe sometimes take for granted) are gifts from God. As an American, I can also more broadly exercise another gift from God, my free will. A person living here can pretty much live whatever kind of life he or she wishes to live, so long as they follow the law. If someone is willing to work for it, he could start a business, obtain a skill or get an education; buy a house and cars; have as many children as he wishes; travel the world, and take advantage of all the luxuries technology and modern society has to offer. These can all be positive things and help make life easier, but is this all there is to freedom?
In my twenties I discovered backpacking and took a real liking to the simplicity of carrying everything you needed on your back, but I was afraid of the dark and being alone in the woods. I kept thinking a wild animal was lurking behind every tree. My mind played tricks on me and falling asleep was often difficult. I heard every rustle of the trees and sound of the night. This kept me on guard most of the time, and even though I continued to go on these trips, I wasn’t free to fully relax into the peace and stillness of nature until I got over these fears.
Fear, guilt, worry, feeling unworthy, greed, anger, lust, vanity; these are jailers of Soul – the Real You. There may be an appearance of freedom in our outer life or we may think we are free, but if caught in one of these negative states or “passions of the mind” it is like being in a prison of our own making. Most often we are blind to it. These things sap goodness from life and steal joy from experiences. They prevent us from being able to express what’s in our hearts to those we love the most, or make it difficult to ask for and accept help. They make us feel we are not good enough or have to prove ourselves. They hold us back from pursuing our innermost dreams and from being the best we can be. True freedom is being free of these balls and chains we’ve been dragging around with us forever.
It wasn’t until I began attending spiritual retreats at the Nature Awareness School that I recognized how fear was impacting me. It took the light shed by Divine Spirit to help me see what I could not see on my own. It was not just the fears surrounding backpacking either, fear had bled into other areas of my life as well. I also realized I had a lot of insecurity that was hurting my relationships and influencing my choices and decisions in a negative way. Through these retreats I received help from my spiritual teacher Del in letting go of all this and finding true freedom. Freedom to take responsibility, to make conscious choices and to create a life that brings me happiness (I mean deep-in-the-bones happiness), independent of the mainstream trends and popular opinion. This has inspired me to pursue the dearest dreams in my heart.
It was during these retreats that I learned about Gratitude. Gratitude is the secret of love and love opens your heart! When your heart is open, and if you allow it, God’s love will work miracles in your life and release you from all that holds you back. It’s really true. This Divine love can heal, uplift, give comfort and solace, bring peace and clarity, find balance and harmony, re-kindle the joy and zest for living, develop confidence, and activate Soul’s creative spark that helps find solutions to any problem life may present. God has transformed my life in these ways and has woven his blessings into my daily life in such a way that everywhere I look, I see evidence of His love and how he wants me (and all his children) not just happy, but Truly Free.
Written by Lorraine Fortier
To learn more about the retreats we offer please visit our website. They are a golden opportunity to strengthen your connection with God.
Guidance For A Better Life 
I’ve never been to the Nature Awareness School but have been to a Dream workshop. I also receive and enjoy reading your Weekly Inspiration and what others have experienced so I wanted to take the time and tell you about an experience I had as a child.
My mom suffered from epilepsy which caused her to have seizures with little to no notice. I remember very clearly it was a Friday afternoon and we were coming back from picking up my dad’s paycheck from work. My mom was driving and I was in the front seat. My brother, a boy that my mom babysat for and the dog in the rear of the station wagon. Back in those days you could ride in the back of a station wagon. As we were driving down the highway my mom said to me, “you now what” and I replied what. When she didn’t respond I turn to her and I noticed the way she was swallowing (I came to know that when she was going to have a seizure she always swallowed very differently). Just at that time she passed out at the wheel, I slid over to the other side of the car and took control of the car and pulled it over to the side of the highway. Believe me when I say I never sat behind the wheel of a car before nor did I ever know anything about driving a car.
I got out of the car on the highway and flagged a car over while trying to keep the 2 young ones and the dog in the car. A man pulled over who called the police who then came. Mom was taken by ambulance and the police took us home.
It wasn’t me that pulled that car over. It was God that did it and I thank him for my life and my mom’s all the time.
Thank you for you Weekly Inspiration emails, I love reading them.
Kathy Erdely
Hello Kathy,
Good to hear from you. I am glad you are enjoying Weekly Inspiration. I believe the testimonies shared on it show that God is indeed alive and well. They show how God reaches out to shower folks with love – in all its forms, protection being one of them. Speaking of which, thanks for sharing your incredible story of being safely guided off the highway. Truly a blessing to be grateful for!
Take Care,
Del IV