Freedom is a tricky thing, is it not? We all say we want it, but do we really? When the freedom to leave means we might not be able to return, when the freedom to try means we might fail, when the freedom to love means our heart might be ripped to shreds – in those tenuous places, do we really want to be free?
There’s lots of scrapes and bruises at our house this week. Wyatt just learned to lose the training wheels and has been riding his bike (every waking moment) like a wild man. Watching Wyatt, I was thinking about the new kind of adrenaline that comes the first time you are on a machine you can control, wheels you can almost make fly, wind whipping through your hair. Ah! the freedom. Seth, adventurous as ever, has been taking his bike (still with the training wheels) in places it simply ought not go. They also like to climb trees and fight and jump off things. So, bumps and bruises aplenty. Of course, we could keep them locked in the house or armed head to toe with protective gear anytime they venture out the door. But that’s no way to live. To jump and race and fight in the woods, you have to have some danger here and there. It’s the way a boy becomes a man, the way a girl becomes a woman.
Miska and I have our own tender places this week. For her 35th birthday, we both got tattoos. I got a wedding band inked on my ring finger. Miska got a butterfly on her foot. Both tats have symbolic, spiritual significance. They hurt a little – needles, for crying out loud. But if you want the beauty, you have to allow for the pain.
I want God to renew my heart. I want God to rescue me from my sin. I want to be free. Or do I?
| Winn is a writer and pastor. He is the author of Restless Faith and the recent release, Let God: The Transforming Wisdom of Francois Fenelon. Winn is married to his best friend Miska and has two rabble-rousing sons, Wyatt and Seth. You can find out more about Winn by downloading this interview or by hopping over to winncollier.com. |
