Is there more to freedom than just ultimate autonomy and infinite choice?
What does freedom mean to you?
What do you think of when you think of freedom? Maybe: getting to call your own shots, or wading in a sea of limitless options, or just doing what “feels right.” Our culture lives by the idea that we can find happiness if we can create ourselves into whatever we want, with no boundaries. But is there more to freedom than just ultimate autonomy and infinite choice?
The happiness we are looking for
Let’s be honest — having unlimited choices doesn’t necessarily make us happier. (We all know that buffet lines are secretly overwhelming, binge shopping doesn’t satisfy, and hours of video surfing leaves us feeling, well, gross.) The truth is that our ability to choose has been instilled in our being for the purpose of directing us to a true good — to God, the real source of the joy and peace we want. We’re made for love, truth, and glory — anything less than that
leaves us empty, lonely, and even wounded. “Freedom exists for the sake of love” (St. John Paul II). Freedom is essentially about being able to choose what we’re made for. It’s our power to act or not to act — to choose to commit to love, to truth, and to the good of the other — or not.
He dreamed of you
God gave you this freedom. Even before you were created, the Father dreamed of you, His beloved son or daughter, like Him, sharing in His life, glory, and yes, even in His divinity. He created you, a unity of body and soul, in His own image and likeness, purposely and intentionally. He knows you, and He honors you. He gave you the capacity to choose between good and evil. He doesn’t make mistakes. And He doesn’t makes puppets, either. He desires your free response to His love.
Choosing reality
But look — we all fall short. We’re sinners. That’s the wonder of Jesus’ self-gift on the Cross: the reality that God’s mercy is so great that He can use not just our good choices, but even our mistakes and sins to bring us to Him. The most perfect — and most human — use of our freedom is when we choose to live in this reality. We are His chosen ones, in whom He delights and in whose hearts He has written His law of truth and love. The pressure is off us to “create” or “fix” ourselves; instead, we are invited to receive the gift of God’s mercy and to live out of our deepest identity — an identity not subject to the changing tide of the culture, our own whims, or who we see ourselves to be on a bad day.
The result?
Peace. Hope. Joy. The more we choose the good (God), and the more we let His Divine Mercy transform us from one glory to the next, the freer — and happier — we become.
Originally printed in IMPRINT Magazine Fall 2019.
