Journey Through the Wilderness to Freedom |
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Readers receive a clear depiction of freedom as an inner journey.
information was gathered through clinical work with hundreds of clients.
Readers gain an understanding of the psychological wilderness that helps to take us hostage.
Readers gain an understanding of four captors: addiction, false modesty, arrogance and regression.
It can be challenging to understand how far or close we live to freedom. Brian McLaren uses the metaphor of the Israelites’ exodus from Egyptian enslavement in order to bring our attention to our own enslavement. “The truth is we are all on a wilderness journey out of some form of slavery.” The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years in search of freedom. The wilderness is an appropriate metaphor for lack of familiar terrain and loss of a reliable direction. Our wilderness is made up of seduction, denial, delusion, and rationalization.
Seduction often draws us away from ourselves toward something that appears comforting and/or arousing. However, the promise is often a shimmer of reality, as Odysseus discovered and was willing to ignore. Having sex with a Siren would result in his being turned into a pig. The example is an appropriate metaphor for the direction seduction can take, bringing us to our pig nature. Denial simply cancels what is real, while delusion creates a counterfeit version of reality. “I’m not simply avoiding working. I’m writing a next best seller and alcohol........