Spiritual Freedom

“The will of God is not a ‘fate’ to which we must submit but a creative act in our life producing something absolutely new, something hitherto unforeseen by the laws and established patterns. Our cooperation consists not in ‘trying to’ do it but in ‘consenting to’ let it happen.” - Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

We often mistake freedom for independence—the ability to do whatever we want without accountability. Yet, Thomas Merton argues that this is actually a form of slavery to our own whims, fears, and ego. True freedom is found not in self-assertion, but in alignment with God.

This sounds counterintuitive: how can surrender lead to liberation? The answer lies in the nature of God’s will. It is not a set of restrictive commands, but the very pattern of love and wholeness woven into existence. When we align ourselves with this truth, we are freed from the exhausting tyranny of trying to force reality to conform to our preferences. We stop grasping for a life we think we need and instead consent to the life already being offered.

The spiritual life is about relaxing our grip and trusting that God’s creative work in us is far more beautiful than anything our small, fearful egos could design. This is the great paradox of Christian freedom: we find our truest selves by letting go of control, discovering that God’s will and our own deepest desires are, in the end, the same.