Our Journey to Freedom
Part 1: Born from Above.
Where God has a wish, God has a way
By Gary Broughman
One clear night, while whispers of revolution hung like dense fog on the earth, a
man named Nicodemus stirred from his bed. He was a religious man, the object of
great respect and learned above the rest. But it was this uncommon level of
insight, his most prized possession, that had stolen his sleep. Nicodemus, it
seemed, could see the presence of a world beyond coming near, a presence many
would call spirit, coming close at hand. But he saw only vaguely -- shadows of
wisdom he could touch but, wish as he might, could not grasp.
Nicodemus knew that a young prophet was moving among the people -- one born from
poverty and without formal training -- and the old teacher could
feel the prophet’s power burning through the night mist, ending all possibility of sleep, drawing
Nicodemus to his warmth as surely as a man, without thinking, will step out of
the shade to seek the sun on a cool winter’s day. He could hear the prophet’s voice calling to him: “Nicodemus, you know so much and yet so little, come and discover what your heart
yearns to know.”
In that moment Nicodemus understood that all the religious learning in the world
was but the first mile in a thousand mile journey. He sensed, could feel in his
bones, that great beauty, great peace, waited at journey’s end … but he had no idea how to cover the final miles. He could seek, he could knock,
but what he needed was someone to open the door and show him the way.
And so it was that Nicodemus left behind the safety of his home and came to
realize what it means to be born again, born from above, born of the spirit,
born into a world unknown to most mortal men. And being born of the spirit,
Nicodemus became more than human in the usual sense. He had moved from his
limited world where God is worshipped and feared at a distance, to a world of
eternal possibility where the spirit is inseparable from all the elements of
life -- the air he breathed, the water, the ground on which he walked, the
words he spoke, and the hand he extended to a neighbor -- all inseparable. He
had in fact, much like the prophet, welcomed heaven to earth and become a part
of God.
Nicodemus was one of the lucky few. He crossed the divide that separates the
finite from the infinite, and did not wait for death to lead him there, as some
believe we must. The good news -- and this is the true good news the prophet
brought -- is that each and every one of us can cross over and become the sons
and daughters of God. And when we do, this world of pain and fear will melt
away like the dawning sun chases off the fog. When we do, the winds of God’s joy, peace and love will gently sweep the land and the original beauty of God’s intentions will be restored. No longer will we praise and study God while
lamenting the vale of tears in which we live. No one ever again will apologize
for feeling pleasure -- in the body or the spirit. Faith in the goodness and
abundance of God’s creation will prevail. In whatever we do, we will feel like God’s playmates.
Who wouldn’t want to live in such a world? Who wouldn’t wish to turn the troubled kingdom of men into the kingdom of heaven. It is the
wish of the ages, the wish that teased Nicodemus from his bed, that drew
hopeful mystics to Jesus as he proclaimed, “The kingdom of heaven is like …”. But the question remains: how do we cross the divide? How can we be born again
and become, like Nicodemus, the actual sons and daughters of God, able not only
to hear God’s voice but to speak with God’s voice? How do we become like Jesus, able to conquer all fear, celebrate God’s love, and laugh in the face of all adversity. How can we live each moment in
the ultimate joy of God’s Spirit?
Skeptics will dismiss these questions as no more than fantasies for
philosophers. But do not doubt my friends, this is no pipe dream. Nor do we
underestimate the powers of self interest that now reign in this world. But
where God has a wish, God has a way. Knock and the door will be opened; seek
and you will find. Open your eyes and you will see the Spirit already present
everywhere around you. And of all the good news, the best news is this is no
mystery, no hidden secret. The answers were programmed at birth into our very
being, written on our hearts. All we need is someone to wake us from our sleep
and encourage us to read. And as we begin to read, the first truth we’ll discover is that even the most common, least educated among us can open the
door. In fact, the design of creation and God’s wish from the very beginning has always been that all would open the door.
This is the first of three points of faith to be embraced on the path to
spiritual transformation. The second truth? There’s no magic moment, no special vision, revelation, epiphany or enlightenment
required. You need not wait for a light bulb to switch on in your mind or some
instant in which you sing out “eureka.” Listen carefully because this may be the most important thing you’ll hear: Once we begin our journey of becoming, doubt disappears and we
immediately begin to profit from our new found harmony with God’s heart and mind.
The third truth to be embraced as we journey is that being born again is no mere
metaphor. It’s as real as the glow in a child’s eyes on Christmas morning. When we are first born of our mothers‘ flesh, we enter a world far different from the world of the womb we leave
behind. There’s no mistaking it; there we were in the warm cozy darkness and suddenly we’re pushed into the cold light of a new reality. Is it any wonder babies cry?
When we are reborn of the spirit, born from above, our world changes once more,
and just as discernibly as in our first birth -- except this time our impulse
is not to cry out in fear but to lift our faces to heaven with joy! We’ve entered a new world where laughter prevails and courage is the order of the
day!
One caution: Don’t imagine we’re saying the path to oneness is wide and easy. It is not. The way is narrow,
but if your eyes are open, clearly visible and well lit by God’s grace. We need ask just one simple question and we‘re on our way: “How shall we live?” Sharing the answer is the calling Jesus accepted when the Spirit first came
upon him. It is the way of rebirth he showed Nicodemus, and the work taken up
by all true prophets over the centuries -- both before and after Christ: to
lead us beyond religion into the pure freedom of God’s Spirit, to throw open the doors and windows of heaven and let the light of
eternity shine now in our world. And here’s the highest pinnacle among all the great peaks of good news that Jesus
brought: the answer is not in saying “no” to this world and living a small and timid life; the narrow way leads to a
grand life of courage, a life that says, “yes, bring it on, all the joy that life offers is mine!”
As we continue this series you will see that learning to live in the Spirit --
that is, living as one born again, born from above--is as simple as living in
harmony with God’s nature and God‘s wish for the world. This is the path the led Jesus into unity with the Father,
that gave him a power of spirit, a power of freedom surpassing all human
understanding-- a power that destroys all fear and insecurity. That same power
was meant to transform each of us and in so doing restore the world. Please
join us as we continue to light the way on our journey to freedom.
All content Copyright © Gary Broughman, 2007
