This Week's Quotation:
The time has come to accept in our hearts and minds that with freedom comes responsibility.
~ South African President Nelson Mandela, 1995 State of the Nation address
Freedom and Responsibility

Rev. Berry Behr, Interfaith Minister
In South Africa, Freedom Day is celebrated annually on April 27, marking the first democratic elections in 1994. With the creation of a celebrated constitution, South Africa wears her hard-won freedom like a glorious crown of honour. For many, the hope of a better life was strongly connected to the political freedoms they had been denied for so long. But politics didn’t deliver the warmth, the comfort, and the better lives that people had hoped for. The vision of freedom for many was far from the experience.
For many, the actual experience of a goal doesn’t live up to the expectation of it. We are free to take action, but often we are imprisoned by unforeseen consequences, or we limit ourselves because of fear, or a belief that we can’t go back once we’ve chosen a particular path. I stayed unhappy for years because I believed that marriage should be forever, no matter what. I was denying myself freedom because of beliefs that didn’t serve me, and through fear of the unknown alternatives.
Everyone has their own perspective of what freedom is, and the price they are prepared to pay for it. For one, freedom means owning their own home. For another, it means having no home at all. Many of our choices may require fierce courage, commitment, and a release of societal, familial, and even personal expectations and beliefs. A Hindu Sannyasin has relinquished all material possessions in pursuit of spiritual liberation.
When our hearts and minds open and vertically attune to the Eternal Source of our Being, judgment and expectation dissolve leaving us free to flow with the river of Life. Accepting that our imperfect Universe is unfolding in perfect ways, we breathe into the knowledge that Divine Design is in flow and that we are in flow with it. Freedom becomes a state of mind and a state of grace. The impossible becomes possible; we fall in love and are in awe of the power and the glory in all of Life.
Love is the only responsibility we have.
About Open Windows
We, the authors of this blog, dedicate it to the transparent exploration of the world’s sacred scripture and enlightened spiritual thought. We believe that the original inspiration of all faiths comes from a common source, named and revered in a myriad of ways. With that understanding, the innumerable symbols, beliefs, and practices of faith cease to divide. They become open windows to a common reality that inspires and unifies us. We find deeper insight and nourishment in our own faith and from the expression of faith from others.
We hope these weekly quotations and meditations speak to your heart and soul.
Accepting that our imperfect Universe is unfolding in perfect ways, we breathe into the knowledge that Divine Design is in flow and that we are in flow with it.
This is so timely and so important – thank you Rev Berry
What a beautiful presentation you have made, Berry, of the dynamic and creative relationship between freedom and responsibility. True freedom is only fully known when the Love that we are is flowing consistently into our daily living. And as this is happening responsibility is automatically assumed for our personal worlds and the larger world of all created being.
Thank you Berry! The most constricting of our freedoms comes from ourselves rather than from those who seek to deny us choice. Choosing love means choosing freedom within our selves and radiating that to the community and world. My prayers and support are with you and all those working to bring the tour into manifestation. May it benefit all to the highest good for the community and the world. Blessings on this sacred work.