The Other Side, by Michael H. Brown, a brand new faith-filled and journalistic look at what happens when we die -- including in-depth descriptions of death, the parting of the soul, 'judgment,' transition to the other side of the veil, and the various regions which at the highest reaches will astonish you with their splendor and light! Of all his books, one not to miss because no other could be as important! Actual testimonies from those who 'returned' and insights on preparing for the wondrous day we all can joyfully reach! CLICK HERE

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TRUTH SETS YOU FREE AND TRUTH IS THAT WE'RE NOT TO BE BOUND TO ANYTHING OR ONE BUT GOD

Scripture tells us that the truth liberates us and Jesus is the Truth and so if we have Him we should be free (John 8:32).

Too often, we're not. We're bound and wound and rewound with this world.

Tight like a watch -- always watching time (which is one thing we're bound to).

There are many others. We're bound to people. Often, we cling to others in a way that's unhealthy (for them and us). We're bound to food. This is called gluttony. We're bound to  technology -- TV, computers, cell phones -- which can be an addiction. We're bound to our thoughts. We're bound to our fears. We're bound to possessions (look at hoarders).

Are you bound to work? That means a workaholic. Are you bound to your home? Many won't wander far, due to fear -- depriving themselves of experience (so tragic). We can also be bound to "good" things like exercise,  if it becomes something very obsessive (throwing us out of balance; key word here, balance).

We need to let go. We restrict ourselves too much in life -- out of insecurity. That's a lack of faith. What are you bound to? Where is your bondage? Is there something about which you obsess that causes you stress.

That's the marker. Stress. Eventually, it can break you.

We can even be bound to our religion. A priest spoke of this the other day and gave the example of people who exhibit the "spirit of scrupulosity." If your husband or wife were ill and needed you at home, would you stay and miss Mass or chance it and leave him or her alone (for that hour or so) due to scrupulosity?

Do you follow the minutiae of the law at the expense of kindness?

If someone fell off a bridge, would you climb over a rail in an attempt to save him or not do so because it's technically against the law to climb over that railing?

It is ideal to adhere closely to every stricture and live by the spirit of those strictures but life is not cookie-cutter perfect and when we aren't flexible we are not free.

It was the legalistic Pharisees and Sadducees who gave Jesus the most trouble and whom He most frequently admonished. (They attacked Him for healing on the Sabbath!) Religion is supposed to lead us to spirituality. “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” says Psalm 3:2.

Spirituality frees us.

When we are bound in fetters, says Proverbs (36:8), we're caught in the "cords of affliction."

Our religion is meant to lead to God and those who criticize others on legalistic grounds and who are themselves fastidious to the "t" in how they follow religion but are harsh and unloving must be careful. For it is this kind of zealotry that leads away from what Christ was really about (and may cause surprise in the afterlife).

The Lord wants to set us free but we're always building and rebuilding and structuring and creating our own creations and then clinging to the pillars and rules we have fashioned.

To a point, it is needed. We need laws. We need structure. We just also need to know that God wants us to flow with His Spirit. In not one single near-death episode does God conduct a life review in which He has a chalkboard with a long list of legal infractions.

Clinging is the operative word here. Do you cling? Do you inhibit family members or friends by clinging?

We cling to institutions. We cling to habits. We cling to old clothes. We cling to the world. We want everything structured because that makes us feel in control but when we look at how God moves we see the example of nature and wildlife where there is no stilted linear structure and yet where everything works together at the most complex levels in a way that's nothing less than astounding.

It is ideal to adhere closely to the law and live by the spirit of that law but when we aren't flexible we miss out on spontaneity and freedom.

Nature is free (as a bird).

Are we?

Do we "fly" with (and to) God?

Or are we earthbound?

Don't let others bind you. "Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem; Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion," says Isaiah 52:2.

Note how many times in your life that the best things you did or that happened to you were spontaneous -- out of your routine.

In fact, when we break the strictness of a routine to do something for someone else we end up with more time to do what we were doing than we would have had otherwise.

God can even replenish time.

It is bondage that depresses us and causes insecurity and inhibits this great experience called life on earth (which is so very temporary -- and exciting, when we let it be).

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