FReedom as The Wondrous, Paradoxical Gift of Love
Did you know that freedom is the gift of love?
Did you know that freedom and love are inseparable from one another and from truth and peace, and that all this literally configures the sound and shape of the word “free” and “freedom”?
Behold how the very word “free” is drawn from the Proto-Indo-European root priy-a- meaning "dear, beloved," which itself comes from the root pri- meaning “to love":
Middle English fre, from Old English freo "exempt from; not in bondage, acting of one's own will," also "noble; joyful," from Proto-Germanic friaz "beloved; not in bondage" (source also of Old Frisian fri, Old Saxon vri, Old High German vri, German frei, Dutch vrij, Gothic freis "free"), from PIE priy-a- "dear, beloved," from root *pri- "to love."
For the older sense in Germanic, compare Gothic frijon "to love;" Old English freod "affection, friendship, peace," friga "love," friðu "peace;" Old Norse friðr "peace, personal security; love, friendship," German Friede "peace;" Old English freo "wife;" Old Norse Frigg, name of the wife of Odin, literally "beloved" or "loving;" Middle Low German vrien "to take to wife," Dutch vrijen, German freien "to woo."
Free - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
We often think of love as a force of attraction and as a bond that draws the lover and the beloved closer together. Love is often conceived of or imagined as a form of attachment. What may be surprising for many is that love is also deeply related to detachment, letting go, and setting free. Some people become very possessive and over-protective in their relationships and call this “love”. However, if the relationship disables, discourages, and disempowers those in it, imprisoning them, is it really love?
Unfortunately, there are many cases where in the name of “love”, abuse happens. Literature offers some of the best examples of the abuse of language and the mis-use of the word “love”. Think of the fairy tale “Rapunzel”, for example, or Fagin’s relationship with Oliver in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In many such cases, an abusive figure says, “I love you”, while actually enslaving and dehumanizing the other, something that could not be further from true love!
True love is paradoxical and wondrous. On the one hand, it is a force of attraction and brings us closer together. On the other hand, it is a reality that sets us free and teaches us to go let go and trust. True love can set us free by releasing us from debilitating chains of identification with illusion, which is delusion. True love is the messenger that calls us back to where we belong, our true home, and guides us on life’s arduous path, helping us to grow back into who we truly are. True love is the love of Truth and the harbinger of harmony. And harmony is the harbinger of peace, a peace that at once brings us together and sets us free! It is in light of true Love as love of Truth that “The Truth shall set you free!”