Have you seen a cat climb to the top of a tree, and then look down in apparent terror? This cat, proverbially being rescued by a fireman, reminds me of people I've met (one I've met in the mirror) who've allowed their freedom to take them to places they didn't want to be.

We are as free as any people have ever been. This is true politically and economically and socially. We are free to express ourselves in ways that our ancestors would never have dreamed. We are free to marry whom we wish, divorce when we desire, travel where we want, and to work as we will (or close, anyway). Never have so many known so much freedom. And never have so many inherited so much and, I fear, leave so little. Never have so many been so enamored with their own freedom.

However, like the cat we do occasionally look around and wonder: what's this freedom for?

That's the question of our day. To what end do we use our considerable freedom? If the end of freedom is only self-expression, what do you do when there's no more self to express? What do you do when you get bored, or scared, or just tired. What keeps you going? What do we do with these days where our decisions determine so much of our destiny? It's all well and good to fly off in fancies of self-fulfillment, but ironically aren't we more fulfilled by the things which ground us and tie us down: family, a commitment to a job, a person, a place, a calling? Sometimes the jails we try to escape are our only routes to true freedom.

This is why people need the wisdom of scripture. This is why we will spend our days peering into the Sermon on the Mount. We need help orienting our lives, making sure that they count for something other than a good time, knowing that this is the only way to truly have a good time. We need help making sure we don't climb the freedom tree of prosperity, get to the top and wonder what in the world we are going to do. We need the direction of God in Christ.

He has climbed the tree, and provided a rescue already.

Scott.