From Fear to Freedom

Last updated on: June 7, 2018 at 6:56 am by Michael Martin

From Fear to Freedom 2018-06-07T06:56:21-06:00 Michael Martin

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

From Ryan, a recent gun donor:

This Winchester Model 61, a slide-action .22 caliber rifle, was passed to me by my father, after being passed to him by his father. All three of us Nazarene ministers. All three of us captured by the teachings of Christ, seeking to follow him.

I grew up in a gun-owning family culture, where hunting, and gun safety, and target shooting was normal. I received my first guns in early adolescence, instilled with a sense of respect for firearms, firearm owners, firearm handling, ammunition and maintenance. I have hunted, albeit sporadically, to the present day.

The stock on this rifle is broken. It symbolizes the breakdown in my family and in me.

I learned to love profoundly from my grandfather, from whom I received this firearm. I learned to love, mostly as he went about loving me. And my sister. And my wife. And my daughters. But there were veins of fear in him. As there are in my father. As there are in me. He slept with a handgun next to his bed. I don’t do that, but I sleep with a mind that is just as fearful–far more often than I want. Intentions that are violent. Actions that are selfish. Thoughts that are hateful.

One night, my fun-loving uncle burst into my grandparent’s bedroom while they slept. He surprised them with one of the spark-shooting toy guns. My grandfather reached for his handgun, thinking my uncle was an intruder. My uncle saw this and yelled out. Unbelievably, no one was hurt.

I have experienced a profound dissolution of fear, deep within, by the grace of God. It began 12 weeks ago this weekend. A transforming entry into Light and Love…into The Christ. Emerging from a claustrophobic tunnel into a bright and spacious land.

I was released from patterns of family fear that bound me into a misguided view of the Divine, the Church, the Earth, and my place in it all. That continues to affect me in every way (mental, psychological, emotional, physiological, relational and spiritual), confounding my rational mind as I’m introduced to Eternal Rest of another realm. In this new place, I find myself hungry for deeper connection to:

Others all around me,

To this earth and the created order,

To an imagination full of transforming peace that continues to heal the fundamental anxiety in me and in my human brothers and sisters.

I submit this metal and wood to be renewed.

Tilling our soil instead of firing bullets.

The tool emerging from this firearm will remain at Emmaus Road. I am submitting another rifle that will become a garden tool used at our home.

To the Christ, I offer myself–broken like this gun’s stock–that I might be remade into something beautiful.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 1, 2018

Orange Solidarity

Next Post

August 2, 2018 We Are What We Behold

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 January 2017 November 2016 April 2016 October 2015 April 2015 September 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the correct order for putting off the old self and putting on the new self as described in Colossians?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Put on the new self, put to death earthly nature, clothe yourself with compassion, rid yourself of anger Put to death earthly nature, rid yourself of anger/rage/malice, take off the old self, put on the new self, clothe yourself with compassion Clothe yourself with compassion, put on the new self, put to death earthly nature, rid yourself of anger Rid yourself of anger, take off the old self, put to death earthly nature, put on the new self

Related posts from Voices of RAWtools: Forging Peace in a World of Violence