Jutta Burggraf - Made for Freedom: Loving, Defending and Living God’s Gift

MADE FORFREEDOM

Loving,Defending and Living God's Gift

JUTTA BURGGRAF

The total or partial reproduction of this book is not permitted,nor its informatic treatment, or the transmission of any form or by any means,either electronic, mechanic, photocopy or other methods, without the priorwritten permission of the owners of the copyright.

Made for Freedom: Loving, Defending, and Living God's Gift,

Copyright 2012, Scepter Publishers, Inc. for the English Edition.

Made for Freedom: Loving, Defending, and Living God's Gift is atranslation of Libertad vivida con la fuerza de la fe (Fifth Edition) 2010 by Ediciones Rialp, S. A., Calle Alcala, 290, 28027.

Scripture texts from the New and Old Testaments are taken from TheHoly Bible Revised Standard Catholic Edition 1965 and 1966 by the Division ofChristian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in theUnited States. All rights reserved. All copyrighted material is used bypermission of the copyright owner. No part of it may be reproduced withoutpermission in writing from the copyright owner.

Copyright 2012, Scepter Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 211, New York,N.Y. 10018 www.scepterpublishers.org

English translation by Bernard Browne

Text and cover design by Rose Design

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-59417-167-3

CONTENTS

TheChallenge of Freedom Today

TheDivine Plan

God'sLove

Bornto Respond

Accepting One's Weakness

Trusting in God's Strength

Becoming "Yourself"

TheIntimate Space of the Person

Livingin One's Own Home

ChoosingGod

LettingGod Enter Our Life

Buildingthe Foundation on God

OpeningOneself to Others

DirectingOneself

Influenceson the Will

The Importance of the Intellect

The Dynamic of Feelings

The External Situation

TheSpontaneous Desire to Be Happy

Choice

Love

Needing Love

Being Capable of Friendship

Existing for Others

Walkingin the Truth

Conscience

Following One's Conscience

Forming the Conscience

ADivine Adventure

With the Power of the Spirit

Letting Oneself Be Governed by Christ

ObeyingResponsibly

Not Dispensing with Freedom

Knowing What You Are Doing

Trusting in Others

Governingwith Prudence

Appropriate Legislation

Neither Forcing nor Manipulating Others

Spiritual Guidance: Helping Others to Mature

ObeyingGod Rather than Men: The Priority of God's Will

Epikeia: The Importance of a"Prudent Flexibility"

Being Strong and Humble

ExternalPressures

Slaveryto Sin

Dependence on Man

Loss of Interior Harmony

ATwisted Personality

Resignation and Sadness

Fears

Desire for Power

Returningto One's Own Home

The Path to Interior Life

Not Living Alone

Seeking a Healthy Autonomy

Ordering One's Own Home

The Need for an Intelligent Asceticism

Freeing Oneself from a False Identity

Living a Simple and Serene life

Taking Advantage of "Talents"

Filling Suffering with Meaning

Abandoning Oneself in God

Acting Courageously

The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor

Suffocating Life and Freedom

Instilling Fear

Manipulating Knowledge

Isolating People

Accepting Life as a Gift

Accepting Dangers

Engendering Trust and Joy

Start with the Teacher

Loving Each One as Unique

A Love that Liberates

A Love that Accompanies

Exercising a Healthy Authority

Helping Others to Grow

Allowing Corrections

With Understanding and Humility

Helping in Times of Failure

Avoiding Rigorism

Guiding Others Toward Great Ideals

PROLOGUE

AN AFRICAN TALE

THERE IS A WELL-KNOWN AFRICAN STORY about a hunter who,while walking through the jungle, came across a recently hatched eaglet. Hepicked it up and carried it to his home, where he put it in his chicken coop.The king of all birds grew up with the chicks and learned to behave like one ofthem; he ate his corn and hopped about in the yard like the others.

Oneday, after many months, the man reflected on the large wings of this majesticbird and on the fact that, despite them, he had not yet learned to fly, havingbeen cooped up his whole life. The good man repented of what he had done anddecided to give the eagle his freedom. Taking him out of the coop and liftinghim gently in his arms, he carried him to a nearby hill. There he pointed tothe sky and said: "You are an eagle. You belong to the heavens, not to theearth. Open your wings and fly!" But the bird did not move. He looked downat the feeding chickens and hopped back to rejoin them. The man tried again:"You shouldn't demean yourself by acting like those chickens, who donothing but quarrel with each other and constantly peck at the ground. Spreadout your wings and fly!" But the young eagle became more and more confusedby this demanding challenge. His whole body trembled, and it became clear thathis only desire was to return to the safety of his coop.

Thehunter did not get discouraged. The next day, very early, he brought the eagleto a very high mountain. At the summit he lifted up the eagle once more and,arms extended, pointed him directly toward the brilliant morning sun, sayingencouragingly: "You are an eagle. You were born to move through the airfreely, to soar toward the sun. You can travel enormous distances and play withthe wind. Don't be afraid. Try it! Open your wings and fly." The eagle,fascinated by the abundance of light, lifted himself in a lordly way, slowlyopened his great wings, and, with a triumphant cry, began to flyhigher andhigher, until he disappeared from sight.

"Hewho has been born with wings should use them to fly," mused the man as hedescended the mountain, singing.

AN ORIGINAL CALL

"WE ARE ALL BORN AS ORIGINALS and die as carboncopies." So say the cynics. If we take a quick look at ourselves and oursurroundings, it may seem they are not far from the truth. In our technicallydeveloped but humanly impoverished society, one finds an obvious uniformity inthinking, speaking, dressing, acting, and reacting. Passing through the greatcities, we find our surroundings to be more and more artificial and themanipulation ever more aggressive. Often we have neither time nor desire tocultivate our interior selves. We allow ourselves to be easily carried along byeach new fashion that arises in our culture. Ultimately, we fail to see thatour life has any meaning, anything worth struggling and suffering for.

Wehave forgotten that we are not just something but someone: a being tenderly loved by God and called to live a unique and passionate life,a free and creative being, summoned with God's grace to overcome even thegreatest obstacles we encounter on our way.

THECHALLENGE OF FREEDOM TODAY

What is freedom? In afirst attempt at defining it, we might say it is openness to the infinite. Itis the radical capacity to be the protagonist of one's life. It is an immensegift that puts into play all of our potential and decisively marks ourcharacter and destiny. On the one hand, we can associate it with joy, love, andthe desire for fullness, culminating in God; and on the other hand, withdespair, anxiety, and absurdity. Freedom enables us to attain greatness, but italso includes the possibility of going completely off track. It involves humanself-fulfillment or human self-destruction.

Ashumans we are confronted with certain questions: Whatis the meaning of life? What are my roots? What is it that shapes my thinkingand my desires? We can look back with thanksgiving for all wehave received from those who came before us, for the deeds (known or unknown)that others have accomplished. But we cannot forget that each of us has themission to illuminate something new. Each person is unique and original. Witheach birth, something singularly new enters the world. The new, Hannah Arendtsays, "always appears in the form of a miracle." No one knows howthey are going to evolve, what they will become, what they will use theirtalents for. The human being is not only endowed with the capacity of proposing an end, but alsoof being its own end: it is called to make itself. It can develop its talents andconvert its lifeand itselfinto something truly great. One can expect theunexpected, the unheard of, from human beings.