Opinion

Freedom really is free

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

I've done it again.

It's the third time in six months.

I'd be worried about my memory and powers of concentration except that I remember, all too well, that this is the third time in six months that I've added when I should have subtracted in my checkbook register.

Thankfully, 95 percent of the checks I write are in the two digit category, not three or four, or I'd soon be on bended knee seeking mercy from the bank. (At some times during the month even a single digit entered incorrectly could achieve that dreaded result.)

It's an attention to detail issue.

My job requires a great deal of attention to detail -- and it entails a lot of repetitive duties as well, things that are the same on every page, the same on every day. I've found that if I attend to these routine matters in the same way, in the same order, on every page, every day, then I am less likely to make a mistake.

My week-long vacation pulled me completely out of my routine.

We still rose early enough to wake the rooster so he could get the chickens up, but other than that, nothing else followed the well-worn rut of my ordinary existence. Though we had no travel plans, we did leave the city limits. Once. For Culbertson. To check out the city-wide garage sales.

Otherwise we stayed home, power-washing portions of the house and painting others. That is our summer project, painting the exterior of the house. It will take all summer.

However, the office is completely organized now, with books shelved by author or subject, files purged and new ones created, and all is in readiness for the monthly checking account statement.

The curtains are freshly laundered, the furniture rearranged to accommodate the window air conditioners and the potted plants thriving in larger, garage sale bargain, pots.

The garden also is in and growing. We branched out this year to include potatoes, carrots, onions and corn. This is a first for us. We're checking the garden's progress daily and are am-azed at what is emerging from those tiny little seeds.

Overall, however, ambition and ability were miles apart and the list of things I wanted to accomplish but didn't is easily as long or longer than the list of accomplishments. It follows that old saying, "Man may work from sun to sun, but woman's work is never done." (Anonymous)

Danny and I both worked from sun to sun, and there's still plenty left undone. I'm afraid it will ever be thus. I think it's supposed to be that way. We were made to work, to produce, to accomplish. In God's original design, that work would be pure pleasure. It was only after sin entered the picture that our labor became a burden, something to be avoided, something to dread, something to complain about.

I find myself complaining less and less these days. Somehow, work, whether here or at the home front, has become a joy (although at 10:30 Tuesday morning, with five pages left to fill and deadline looming, I would have been hard-pressed to find joy). Not to worry, my well-entrenched routine will kick in by week's end and deadlines, though ever present, won't present the same level of dread.

It's amazing, the freedoms I have found in Christ. Not only do I no longer fear death, or illness, or injury, though one will certainly come and the others will likely visit for a season or two as time passes, but I find myself freed from the tyrannies of modern life. The burden to accumulate. A new car. A bigger and better house. A more prestigious job. A bigger paycheck. More initials behind my name. (It is important to note that I do not possess a traditional degree. I have, however, earned lifetime achievement degrees, to wit: AAGG (All Around Good Gal) and OMEM (Once a Mother, Everyone's Mother.)

Freedom. Though the word is sometimes synonymous with autonomy, it is so much bigger than that. It is a feeling of weightlessness in spite of the burdens of responsibility -- a feeling of buoyancy though there are pressures within and without.

This kind of freedom doesn't come from a constitution. It isn't found in mind-altering chemicals or behaviors. It can't be legislated. It is, instead, a gift. Freely given, the more it is explored, the greater it becomes. This gift is available to anyone, regardless of what country they were born in, regardless of the color of their skin, or the level of their intellect. Freely given, this is a freedom that cannot be taken away, a freedom that will last throughout eternity. This is the freedom that comes when we are able to say with Paul, "I have learned the secret of being content in every situation." (Philippians 4:12)

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'" Matthew 11:28 (KJV)

Things you won't see in heaven: Unemployment lines

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: