Freedom is incremental.
They say that when an elephant is chained to a post, he will walk round and round in a circle, wearing a path in the soil at the length of the chain. Sadly, when the chain is cut and the elephant is set free, he often simply walks the same circle, unable to realize that freedom is his. He is unable to imagine a new journey- an new path.
The darkness of winter allows me to consider the circles I am walking around in – unaware that the proverbial chain to the post has long since been severed by God’s gracious hand. Relationships, habits and addictions which needed to die can be let go of; while the ones which bear life can be celebrated and held with deep gratitude.
And anonymous author once wrote that “If as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things, if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have time to make the long slow journey across the desert as did the magi, or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds, or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary? For each one of us there is a desert to travel, a star to discover and a being within ourselves to bring to life”
