True Freedom
So many outdoor enthusiasts describe their time spent pursuing the natural world as liberating. "When I'm out there, I just feel so free," is a common refrain. But what about being out there brings on this feeling of freedom? It's not as if there are no rules to follow, just ask anyone who has fallen down a mountain, spent the night exposed to the elements, or had a bad run-in with a non-human creature out there. In fact there are some very specific rules with very real consequences every time we head out.
Actually, I would argue that it is exactly because we are forced to make decisions that matter that we feel so free. We are free of our human-invented social constructs and societal constraints, released into a black and white world where the questions are straight-forward and our decisions mean something.
It's no wonder that we have similar descriptions for our experiences with God. As we enjoy the closeness of a God who is beyond our cultural constructs, above our human limitations, and that much more eternal than the great mountains we revere, our spirits are lifted. Just as in nature, there are rules with God: things that we do that have real consequences. Yet this is liberation, not constraint. The questions really are straight-forward and our decisions with respect to them really do matter.
In this issue of Shout! Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine, our writers take on the idea of freedom and what it means. How they experience it in the outdoors and how it is all reflected in their relationship with God. I hope you enjoy some evening reading after a day full of pursuing the "Freedom of the Hills," and maybe more importantly, contemplating the only one who offers the true freedom we all long for.
