Writer Dylan Morrison

‘I want to break free’

The famous rock star Freddie Mercury penned these words in one of Queen’s biggest hits. Freddie was revealing his soul’s inner anguish but sadly Christianity held no answers for him.

Is Christianity a religion of freedom or one of bondage?

Paradoxically both!

Let me explain.

Desire is the key factor in our loss of freedom. Desire says, “I will not be happy until I get ——-!” When desire targets an object, an attachment or bond is formed that is extremely strong, in fact a subtle form of addiction.

An attachment can be understood as a psychological dependency on something or someone. It may even be a metaphysical belief  that seeks an elusive state of happiness or wholeness, perhaps even God Himself.

Attachments can’t ultimately deliver what they promise to deliver, thus prompting a fresh search for a deeper and more potentially workable attachment. True freedom comes when we drop these imprisoning dependency attachments, painful as it can be.

Where does Christianity come into the picture?

In my experience, traveling through the traditional Christian paradigm can go one of two ways. After an exciting initial sense of freedom it can quickly become the major dependency and means of enslavement in our psyche or, more rarely, it can become the catalyst for the dropping of all attachments.

I believe that a true experience of Holy Breath is the Divine means of rewiring and freeing one’s sense of Self from the attachment game. Unfortunately, Christian faith is often presented as a commitment to a religious institution or, even more dangerously, to a religious leader/teacher/guru.

How often have you been asked, or indeed asked, ‘What Church are you attached to?’

A most telling question, one that reveals the subliminal attachment mentality of the enquirer.

Even one’s commitment to a pre determined orthodoxy can prove to be a prison for the psychologically dependent. Dogma insists on whole hearted devotion,presenting itself as the source of freedom, happiness and peace. It appears to the enthusiastic believer that Christ or God  cannot be experienced apart from such a dogma. Such a belief is, in my experience, false.

Contrary to popular religious opinion, a so called ‘backslider’ from Christian orthodoxy may, in fact, have set out on the beginning of a journey towards genuine freedom, a freedom where Spirit fulfills its role as the authenticator of our psychic Self.

Mankind, I would suggest, isn’t split into Christian and non Christian camps. Instead, I believe the human family comprises those awakened souls walking in awareness and freedom and those sleepwalkers who, like automatons, stumble their way through earthly existence.

‘If the Son makes you free you will be free indeed’

Surprisingly, that precious and most needed gift of freedom, offered by the Nazarene, may lie outside our present Christian paradigm.

I had a strange experience this morning – just as I was getting out of bed the old Sunday School chorus ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ rushed into my consciousness from nowhere . The next thing I heard was me belting it out in my somewhat tenor voice as if I were a 5 year old.A peace enfolded me and Carol my wife joined in from downstairs. What a simple and childlike thing spirit is and yet we have turned it into a system of dogmatic theology trying to find peace there when there is no peace there!I’m off to look at the ducks on the lagoon beside us – maybe they will be my teachers today!

Most followers of a religion believe that God or the gods are the originators of their belief system. In my more pensive moments I doubt them – by your fruit you shall know them and all that! Perhaps we can imagine what happened in prehistory! As early man formed communities, the rivalry within eventually manifested with everyone looking for ‘the other’ to blame. After a period of time the community centred this blame on one of the weakest or non conforming members of the group. This evil victim was then murdered as the violence of the community was unleashed. Following this blood thirsty ritual a new sense of unity peace and prosperity seemed to fall upon the community.’How come?’ they asked. Their only explanation was that their victim by his death had brought the peace. He was now recognized as a god, who dispensed peace – and so the dying god was born along with ‘sacrifice’ and its ability to appease the anger of the gods who were responsible for the regular crises ( famine ,drought,sickess etc.) within the community. I believe that all sacrificial religious thought evolved from such a mindset – a god who needs to be appeased by the death of a victim. Are we through our religious rituals,practices and disciplines, today continuing such an ancient myth. Was Jesus death such a death or was it radically different indeed dismantling such a belief system? Does Divine Love demand self sacrifice? Now there’s a question that could have many practical repercussions in the life of a Yeshua follower!