Bonds? That Make Us Free???

What does it mean to be free? Why do we want to be free? What do we want to be freed from? How can we have bonds and be free at the same time?
I believe this book’s main premises are:
* that we all want to be free;
* freedom equates to happiness;
* in order to achieve this, we must end our self-deceptions; and
* being bonded to others allows us to achieve this happiness (freedom)
As a Catholic Christian I am drawn to my core teachings to discern my behavior in relation to the wisdom offered by other sources. Interestingly enough, my core teachings point me in the same direction that this book promotes through its many stories and examples.
In our Lord’s Prayer we acknowledge our need for forgiveness and the need to forgive others. This forgiveness is held to a high standard, as we are asking to be forgiven in the same way that we forgive. Thus harboring resentments hurts us as well as others, us more so.
Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
In our Nicene Creed we acknowledge the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, which allows us the grace to “see” our self-deceptions, if we seek to see them and the ability through grace alone to over come them. I see self-deception as the sin of pride, the unhealthy kind. Humility is the opposite to this kind of pride. Humility comes through the Holy Spirit working in our lives, but we have to seek it. We must be bonded to the Holy Spirit and rely on His grace to then be bonded in love to others. Through this we can find happiness regardless of our other circumstances. Lofty, yes! Worthwhile, definitely.
Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary , and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Besides the many examples in scripture and church tradition that point us toward self-examination, we have also been encouraged by many who have gone before us. Scholars and Saints, Common and Elite, Modern and Ancient. They all are urging us to seek the truth.
The concepts of this book are not new, yet it is a well written and finely executed encouragement of what many over time have tried to communicate to us. I list for you here just a small sampling of the wisdom that many fine minds have passed to us throughout the ages that are similar to the theme of this book:

Socrates (470BC-399BC)
~ The unexamined life is not worth living.
~ Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.
Plato (424BC-347BC)
~ Beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may.
Aristotle (384BC-322BC)
~ He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.
~ It is well said, then, that it is by doing just acts that the just man is produced, and by doing temperate acts the temperate man; without doing these no one would have even a prospect of becoming good. But most people do not do these, but take refuge in theory and think they are being philosophers and will become good in this way, behaving somewhat like patients who listen attentively to their doctors, but do none of the things they are ordered to do.
Saint Augustine (354AD-430AD)
~ A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
~ He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.
~ Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.
~ Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.
~ If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times.
~ It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.
~ O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.
~ The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
Saint Patrick (385AD-461AD)
~ The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart, so that I should recall my sins.
Saint Gregory (540AD-604AD)
~ He is not wise to me who is wise in words only, but he who is wise in deeds.
Saint Teresa (1515AD-1582AD)
~ Our souls may lose their peace and even disturb other people's, if we are always criticizing trivial actions- which often are not real defects at all, but we construe them wrongly through our ignorance of their motives.
~ Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.
Nelson Mandela (1918AD- )
~ For to be free is not merely
Bell Hooks (1952AD- ) Author, feminist, social activist
~ The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom...