On Liberty

The Latin words "ad lib" mean "at one's pleasure" or "as much as one desires." You may see it on a prescription for a drug. It's also used in the dramatic arts when an actor improvises and performs off-script. Lib is also short for liberation, as in "women's lib" and it's in the words "libertarian," "liberal," and "liberty." Since this isn't a political blog, I'll stick to the theological and philosophical meaning of liberty or freedom.

God gave us free will to do as we please or ad lib and not follow the script or prescription he wrote for our lives. That's the way it should be. God didn't want us to be androids, programmed to do his will. He wanted us to freely choose right from wrong and decide to surrender to his will and follow his script or take the right dose of his medicine.

Sometimes, we have to learn the hard way not to ad lib. If someone does something "as much as one desires," it becomes a bad habit or addiction, and they lose their freedom to choose. Ad lib leads to a loss of liberty.

As Americans, we are blessed with the Bill of Rights, which guarantee our freedoms of: speech, religious practice, assemby, press, and the right to bear arms. But with freedom comes responsibility. We can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater. We can't print lies and slander in a newspaper. We can't practice shooting a gun in our backyard that's adjacent to three neighbors.

To be truly free, we need to be moderate in our desires and considerate of others. We gain these virtues throught the practice of the three pillars of The Way, taught at awarenessnow.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpEddc-IJl6113tM7hVg0_Q We accept our script as the best possible plan for all concerned. We are satisfied with our role and what we are and have. And we love others as ourselves. This is true liberty, better known as liberation or enlightenment, for we are free from the darkness of ignorance with its fear, worry, regret, cravings, and sadness. We are then an Awakened One with all the rights, powers, and gifts that come with that status.