Are you free?

People like to talk about freedom, and what it means to be free. We all love freedom right? That's why we like and support democracy and capitalism and everything that the world looks up to as freedom right now. We all ask our parents to give us a little freedom as we get older. We start wars to win it. Our laws are litter with stuff about freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and so on and so forth. We're surrounded by it from the day we are born to the day we die. And yet it surprises me how little people know about it.

One of the people I really admire, posted a small blog the other day. This is basically what it said: To stop living in the way society tells you to live and start living the way you want to live. Forget what everyone tells you to do. Break the rules and ignore the consequences. Stop coloring inside the lines. It's your life. Live it the way you want to.
And that got me thinking: is that really freedom? It sure sounds like it. But is it really?

What if you liked the way society did things. What if you cared about the consequences? What it you liked coloring in the lines because you saw that the lines existed for a reason? What if you wanted to follow the rules? Does that mean that you're not free?

Well, the way I see it, it doesn't. Freedom isn't recklessly living life. That's wild abandon. Sure it may be fun, and who knows, you may even get by living like that in certain circumstances, but that doesn't mean that your free. You could be doing all this because not because you want to, but because you think that it's what makes you free. You'd be kept in bondage by the worst person to keep you there: yourself. There are people who live by the book all their lives and die old and happy, with no regrets. And there are those who live wildly with so called freedom and die young, some even committing suicide, trying to find a way out.

So what then is freedom? Well, there simplest explanation I've ever heard come from a movie: The Matrix Revolutions. Remember that seen near the end where Agent Smith was moping the floor with Neo and Neo kept getting up even though he knew he'd just get his butt whooped again? Agent Smith got mad and started screaming at him

Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love?

Neo then answered calmly: Because I choose to.

That's freedom my friends. It's not doing something or not doing something. There is no one thing, no one action, no one lifestyle that can define freedom. Freedom come from choice. It doesn't come from coloring inside the lines or outside. It comes from having the choice to do either.People tell me that since I'm a Christian and I don't do certain things that they do, that I am not free, kept in bondage by some god. But I just laugh when they say that because I know that I am far more free than they'll ever be. Freedom isn't me doing all the crazy things that I want to do. Freedom is knowing that I can do every single one of those crazy things and choosing not to. To me, I'm have freedom in Christ. From where I stand, all those other people are in bondage, slaves to their own desires.

I'm not saying that you saying that obeying the rules brings freedom. If being crazy makes you free, then by all means, keep being free. Keep yourself happy and live your life to the fullest. Just make sure that the reason why you're doing it is because it's what you deliberately choose to do. That's the only way you'd ever be free. So if you want, go ahead and walk on the sidewalk. Wait for the light to change before you cross the street. Go to school, listen to mainstream music and obey the rules. As long as it's what you choose to do, then you'll be as free as then evening breeze and the mountain stream. Lift your head high and hum your favorite tune as you watch the shackles that bind you fall away.