News from Authentic Freedom Ministries

In the last year or so, I have adopted collage as one of my forms of creative prayer. Most recently I completed a piece, centered on the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. What emerged for me was how Little Red Riding Hood is a story about personal power.

In the story, Little Red Riding Hood is walking through the woods on her way to deliver a basket of goodies to her ailing grandmother.   On her journey, she encounters the wolf. The wolf distracts her from her journey by pointing out the lovely flowers in the forest and suggests how much her grandma would appreciate a bouquet of these lovely flowers. Ignoring her mother's command and her own inner voice of reason, Little Red Riding Hood tarries in the forest to pick some flowers for her grandma. In the meantime, the wolf runs ahead to grandma's house, gobbles her up then puts on grandma's clothes in the hopes of eating Red Riding Hood too.   When Little Red Riding Hood arrives, she finds her grandma in bed, but something is not quite right. "Grandma, what big ears you have.....grandma what big eyes you have....grandma, what big teeth you have." Ignoring the very loud voice inside of her that told her this was NOT her grandma, Little Red fell prey to the hungry wolf, "All the better to eat you with my dear."

When I asked my children what they thought the moral of Little Red Riding Hood to be, this was their response: "Don't talk to strangers." While this is true, the moral goes much deeper than this. Little Red Riding Hood is a story about listening to the voice of wisdom that lies deep within us. Along with her mother's warning, Little Red knew within herself that it was not a good idea to detour from her original path. Ignoring this voice placed not only herself but also her grandmother in harm's way. Because she tarried, the wolf was able to journey ahead and gobble up grandma. Once she arrived at her grandmother's house, she had ample opportunities to listen to the voice that hold her something was amiss - the voice that did not sound like her grandma's voice, the appearance that was not like her grandmother. Instead of recognizing the inner voice that screamed, "DANGER", she fell into the wolf's wicked plan. In the end, the wolf ate her up in one gulp - red cloak and all.

When we do not take time to listen and give heed to the voice of wisdom that resides within us, we too are eaten alive. We have given up our own red cloak of power. This is true of both men and women who have not been given permission or tools to know how to listen and discern the voice of truth within. When we are not empowered to name and claim our own truth, we fall vulnerable to the unending cycle of power and control. The perceived authorities - those who "own" the truth become the wolves of our personal Red Riding Hood tale as we are stripped of the red cloak of personal power.

In order to reclaim the red cloak of personal power, we need to take the time to listen, to discern and to gather around us the support we need to live in that truth. It is for this purpose that the ministry of Spiritual Direction was developed. Through Spiritual Direction, you are empowered to explore effective tools through which you can begin to listen and hear that voice within. Once you are able to hear that voice, you are guided through the process of discerning the voice of truth from the voice of the ego - that voice which seeks to deter us from our soul's true purpose. And finally, you are given tools for exploring and developing effective systems of support that can help you to live in the truth that you have discerned. Spiritual Direction is a helping ministry that empowers us to once again Don the Cloak of Power. May you reclaim that cloak and wear it well!

If you are interested in exploring Spiritual Direction as a tool for reclaiming your own cloak of power, you can learn more at www.authenticfreedom.net or contact Lauri at (920) 230-1313.