Freedom Sculpting

I had this urge to buy some wire and to use it to sculpt my word, freedom.  On a recent outing, I stopped at a local hardware goods store for a rivet to fix my Cutco cooking and serving spoon... and to find some... wire.   
It was great. 
A store clerk helped me by first looking for a rivet gun.  When he discovered that there was not one in the supplies room, he opened the package of the last rivet gun on the shelf, used it to punch a rivet into my spoon as I explained how I forgot to mention to my husband that there could possibly be a rivet in the taco meat until he told me he spit out some metal thing during lunch at work, then he placed the rivet gun back in the package.  "What kind of store does this?" he said.  "The kind that takes good care of its customers," I replied.  Then, upon request, he showed me where the wire was, and I was on my way, with three packages of wire, and a box of rivets. 

That night, I began sculpting.  Beginning with the steel wire, I bent the letters for my word. 

And yes, it was as satisfying as I imagined it to be. 

My mind turned to thoughts of freedom's meaning as I sculpted, bending the steel wire into the word I wanted it to hold.  I thought of barbed wire, and prisoners, as I wrapped the steel with copper wire to decorate it.  I thought of those imprisoned in countries that have few freedoms to choose from; those imprisoned for choosing to follow an illegal religion, such as Christianity, and as I wrapped freedom again with brass wire, I thought about slavery and human trafficking.  Then I added a bell charm, from my daughter's broken bracelet.  Let freedom ring.  Proclaim liberty.

I thought about Freedom Sculpting, and Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr.  And as I rubbed the decorated wire, and was surprised by how the textures worked together to create a pleasing feeling, I thought about the freedoms I enjoy and gave thanks for the people who set those freedom into motion for me.  They literally sculpted freedom with the work of their hands.  Their dreams bolted humanity into the direction of freedom for lives that were ruled by worldly principalities that enslaved humanity, mentally & physically.

I placed freedom over my sink, where I spend a lot of time during my days... 

doing dishes, preparing snacks and meals, fetching a glass for someone who needs a cold drink... 

This is where I am a lot, here at home with my children.
Here in the now is where I want to experience freedom.

I thought about what it is exactly that I'm seeking to be free from.  What do I hope to discover in this land of freedom?  I am free here.  It's myself that I wish to be free from.  My own mind and thoughts that keep me in captivity.  In this land of the free, I have physical freedom, but in my mind, I'm enslaved to old ways of thinking and doing. 

This is what, and who, I wish to be free from. 

Is this a goal that I can reach? 

Freedom above my kitchen sink.

I want to live out the word freedom and not take for granted of all I've been set free from. 

Words come to me,

and I hear Bob Marley singing

"none but ourselves can free our minds." 

On a mix of music coming through my computer via Pandora.com,

Jewel's words ring out, 

"Let your words enslave no one

and the heavens will hush themselves,

to hear our voices ring out clear with sounds of freedom.... 

No longer lend your strength to that

which you wish to be free from. 

Fill your lives with love and bravery

and we shall lead a life uncommon."

Sara Groves sings, "It didn't take me too long to find

the chains You just had freed me from;

I got so used to having them on,

I didn't know how to live in freedom,

This can't be, no it can't be

What You have intended for me." 

Paul's words to the Galatians resound,

"For my part, I am going to boast about nothing

but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Because of that Cross, I have been crucified

in relation to the world,

set free from the stifling atmosphere

of pleasing others and fitting into

the little patterns that they dictate... 

It is what God is doing,

and he is creating something totally new,

a free life!"

I want to live these things, I want to touch this freedom. 

It is my first word for the year, the first weaving of my life's fabric. 

The first stitch in the quilt of the rest of my life's pattern. 

The foundation to build on,

if I learn to live it; 

sculpting freedom into my very marrow.

Freedom... let it ring, in me.