Personal Liberty

Lately I have had occasion to ponder and consider on personal liberty. When I say "personal liberty" I'm not talking about liberty in terms of country and government. I'm talking about liberty of oneself from misconception, rationalization and self-betrayal. Regardless of how much our liberties and rights may be protected and respected, it is possible for us to bind ourselves in chains of our own making. These chains are often not noticed at first but slowly restrict and bind our "personal liberty" to such an extent as to literally take away our freedom to choose.

As we go through life and encounter situations, we excersize our agency. We walk a fine line when making choices. Some choices continue and preserve our freedom, while others restrict, bind and blind us from the choices we could and should make.

To understand this better, it is important to make a distinction between what C. Terry Warner calls "Conscience" and "Light". Conscience he defines as "the knowledge of ourselves that we share with ourselves. Our inherent capacity to monitor what we are doing". Light he defines as "the reality of other creatures and of God that guides us in how we ought to respond to them.
There is an essential difference between the two. 'Light we do not control and cannot change; conscience we may misuse to twist our perception of the light and how faithfully we are responding to it." (From the book "Bonds that Make us Free" by C. Terry Warner pg. 134)

The more we align our choices and conscience with light, the freer we become to continue to make choices and be agents of our lives. In the Doctrine and Covenents, section 50 we learn about the nature of light and both how we can obtain or let more of it into our lives as well as the effects it has on us. Verse 24: "That which is of God is light and he that receiveth light and continueth in God, receiveth more light and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day". Then there is the key for obtaining the light in vs. 26 and vs. 28. We allow more light into our lives when we a) serve others and b) purify ourselves from all sin. Vs. 27 shows us the powerful results that come: "Wherefore he is possesor of all thing; for all things are subject unto him, both in heaven and on the earth, the life and the light, the Spirit and the power, sent forth by the will of the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son.". What greater liberty could we have than to posses this power from God?

How often in our lives when we seem to feel pressed upon and limited in our choices do we in hind site realize that it was due to our perception, not necessarily the reality of the situation. As we let light in, it opens up the dark corners of "things as they really are" (D&C 93) and allows the "truth to make us free" (John 8:32)

So, as we move foreward in the cause and struggle for freedom, let us keep ourselves free to fight the good fight and not lose our way by giving away our personal freedom through wrong choices.