Truth & Freedom

Whatever appears in front of you is your liberation

— that is, until you judge it.

Then...

you imprison yourself again.

-- Karen Maeyen Miller

"You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32)

When Jesus said these words, he said them in Aramaic, one of several ancient Semitic languages rooted in thousands of years of Southwest Asian nomadic experience.

Neil Douglas-Klotz, in the Introduction to his book Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus), shares that the word "know,"yida in Aramaic, means to grasp or hold something in one's hand, so that one can use it.

In Aramaic the word for "truth" (shrara) means a light or clarity coming from the heart that leads one in the right direction for the moment. People who travelled seasonally, without any permanent dwelling, concerned themselves with finding such a light, an inner GPS.

The word for "free" (ncharr) points to burning, or leaving behind, things that one no longer needs.

Through Aramaic we can hear this saying tell us: "if you find a light emanating from the heart, it will lead you in the right direction. You'll know what to hold on to and what to release."

In other words, a way of living freely, from a within sense of divine guidance.