All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. ~Arthur Schopenhauer
When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” They answered Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of My own accord, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, in John 8
Oh beloved, it is true. There is an end to what we think we know, and a beginning to what is the truth. Really, there is a difference. Freedom, we once thought, was something that was ours to keep. But now we have found that that was not freedom, it was our rebellion and trying to get what we wanted.
We really thought we knew what we were doing. We didn’t, but we kept on going. And we mocked or hurt or tried to get away from the anyone who tried to present the reality that we were actually stuck, rather than free.
So, we kept going. And all that we really made, was more pain. We hurt the people around us. We hurt the people closest to us – even though we said that we loved them. Any time they came in towards us with something resembling anything other than what we were holding onto in terms of a paradigm was batted away.
We stomped
we cursed
we cried
we lied
we demeaned
we accused
we deflected
we made excuses
we threatened
we raged
we …. ran out of gas.
We. Were. Miserable. The formerly impenetrable defenses of our own liberty had created around us a lonely no-man’s land, seeded with the landmines of our rage and failure and fear. We thought we would be happy if we got our way. But as soon as we did, we realized nothing was really moving the direction we wanted it to.
Finally, something in us wilted. Maybe it was our pride. No, surely it was this. We were suddenly less confident in our own righteousness. We were saw that our bitterness and selfishness had gotten us nowhere. We really began to realize that anywhere we had really gotten (not just on paper) was due to the graces of others and the grace of something even bigger.
We. Are. Failures. Oh, not that we haven’t done some things well, or even very well. It is just that all of those things were not even close to good enough to make us happy deep down. We found that we were really doing a lot of them just to cover over the fear and shame and worry – or to run as fast as we could away from those things.
Somehow, He broke through. And we wondered what in the world we were fighting for so long. Nearly instantly, the moment we quit fighting, we began to feel this incredible lightness in our being. Our spirits and souls expanded well beyond the confines of our body and the tiny little ideas that had held us hostage for so long.
We were free.
Can we see it? We had been lied to. Oh yes, we lied to ourselves, but the liar had put heaps of fuel on the fires of our own self-will and our denial of the realities in our lives. But we could suddenly now hear the truth because we made a simple choice: We quit believing lies. And, we started believing Truth.
Now, thankfully, even when lies are thrown at us. We do not even need to defend against them. There is no need to fight anymore. Our Champion is The Truth. Truth does not change. Truth really has no challengers. And it matters no longer how much others rebel or try to get their own way, we are at peace. We can simply stand; at Peace, in Love, in Truth.
We have been set free.
So, are you feeling yourself struggle against something somebody is trying to tell you? Does it drive you deeper into yourself and push out your defenses? Perhaps it is time to make a choice. Choosing to believe The Truth is the only thing that will set you free. Tonight is your night beloved. Time to surrender to The Truth.
Fear not. He will set you free.
