There’s a lot of noise in the world. Tons of people all screaming to be noticed, to be heard, to have ten minutes of fame, but for what? What happens after the ten minutes are up? There is a lot of complaining, too. There are the leftist and the rightist and the I’ll-vote -for -whoever -gives -me- something-ists. It can get overwhelming. It can get confusing. I think about a story I read about Ghandi one time, about how he often would return from palaces and the luxuirous surroundings of world leaders and go to his home, sit on the floor and use a spinning wheel, a common tool in humble surroundings. This wheel had a center and the center held the rest of the wheel together. Ghandi did not forget who he was at his core. When he engaged in the humble act of spinning, he resisted the forces of the outside world to mold him and make him into something other than who he was. Heaven knows there are lots of voices and forces out there today trying to mold us, shape us, intimidate us, trick us and beat us into being somebody other than who we are. We must maintain our focus, never forget who we are at the core. In order to do this, we must truly know ourselves. Most people live and die without ever truly knowing themselves. We are more than flesh bodies, more than minds. We are spirit. Like Ghandi’s spinning wheel, we each have a core and if we choose to ignore that core then the darkness of this world will capture it and silence its voice. However, all it takes to free the core is to acknowledge it is there, to return to it. Our core, our spirits, are either walking in freedom and light or else they are enslaved and captured.
Symptoms of a free spirit are:
Love, peace, joy[not a momentary thrill like results from a joke, but a life-long attitude], contentment, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, self-control [reining in of physical appetites], unselfishness, empathy, generousity, gratitude, desire to see justice, honesty, integrity, morality.
Symptoms of an enslaved spirit:
Begrudgment, fear, hate, envy, deceit, greed, dishonesty, uncontrolled physical appetites, sexual perversion, disregard for rights of others, bullying, selfishness, complaining, strife, bitterness, anger, jealousy, unforgiveness, lack of mercy, unthankful, self-serving, self-centered, boastful, self-important.
