This three part series explores the historic cycles of humanity’s return to a just social order and the nature and role of Freedom in Integral Development through the lens of the mystic inner life. The first parte in “Essays”
Part II: Freedom Emerges from the Inner Life
Divine design shows us that Freedom is not an a priori condition, but an emergent condition. True Freedom is not a political right granted by a state document, but a spiritual byproduct of a soul coming into purity and alignment with the Divine Design. Freedom, in the divine order, is rather the effect, or the resultant state, of the interior life of prayer, meditation, and union with the Creator. It is the emergent state of a mind in habit of contemplation of Jesus Christ, who is the perfect reflection and living expression, in complete oneness with God the Father. This contemplation of the pure love of Christ for the Father, in turn purifies the interior state of the thoughts of the mind and aims the will toward the desires of God the Father. This contemplation returns our gaze to the Source of Light–whereas, in contrast, humanistic Enlightenment thinking focused our gaze on the outer reaches of any ray of light we so chose to follow away from the Source. Hence the rise of our cancerous multiplicity,1 which of course, we were free to follow.
Quite contrary to Enlightenement thinking, is this inward–toward the Source–contemplation, the life of mental prayer, as described by St. Teresa of Ȧvila.2 Through the inner life, divine design is revealed. In pursuing the inner life, Divinity itself becomes the focus of our mental state, the object of our examination of natural and supernatural phenomena. All manner of divine design, high order and law, and sacred knowledge is examined and cherished upon the contemplation of the Source as the object, rather than the illuminated subject as the object of our contemplation and study, as Enlightenment thinking would direct our focus. The Source of the Light, thus studied through reflection, recollection, and meditation on holiness, enlivens all manner of divine knowledge. Beams of radiant light–seeking out each spot of darkness within permeates the soul. The perfect light of the Source, reflected to us through Christ, delicately lifts each recessed fear, each hidden rejection of the Divine Will, each quiet usurpation of the unchecked ego manipulating the mind and heart to seek only its own benefit. Thus all that had been unseen within, is exposed via contemplation of the perfect pureness of the Divine.
This is the interior life of prayer, where one comes gradually closer to the burning heart of Christ. Dancing about the crucible, until alas, the spirit so desires union with Christ that it either ecstatically leaps into the radiant fire or is pulled in by the sheer gravity of Love Unconditional. (Who can say which is the first force?) And we, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego–who, refusing to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol and were cast into the blazing inferno–are found dancing ablaze in the light with that fourth Man.3 Let us peer into this blazing heart of this fourth man, Christ, and consider what it reveals to us about our true nature. From here, we will find the answers to our questions on Freedom.
Gazing at the Absolute
Upon turning our gaze to Christ, we thus enter the internal life with him. What do we find at the heart of Christ, but one who has laid down his every Freedom for us, his Bride, his Church? Why did he do such a thing? And how can his act bring us to understand our Freedom–its nature and its intent in accordance with the divine design of creation? What is found at the heart of Christ? Absolute purity. For Jesus said: “I and my Father are one. [...] Anyone who sees me, sees the Father” (John 10:30; 14:9). Absolute perfect alignment with the Father is oneness, or the ability to purely reflect the face of God.
Christ is the first and ultimate pure reflection of God the Father–the Absolute–as a pure silver plate Christ perfectly reflects to us the Shekinah Glory, the presence of God, such that if beheld by one with impurity, the radiation would cause immediate death. Thus, none have seen the face of God and lived. Why? What is this supreme divine light that destroys any impure man? This is the force of the Absolute, and it is also found in the law of nature and the laws that govern the physical universe.
Consider that the human eye can only behold 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum. Exposure to the entire wave–gamma, x-rays, cosmic radiation–instantly tears apart DNA. To gaze at the sun unfiltered by the Earth’s atmosphere and unprotected by ultraviolet lenses causes permanent blindness in the human eye.
Consider also infinite gravity: the density of physical matter collapsing unto itself within a black hole, unviewable behind the event horizon. And at the opposite scale, in quantum physics, a particle cannot be observed in its absolute uncorrupted state of potential (its wave function) without its state being changed. The instant a measure occurs, the wave function collapses into a single, localized reality. Thus we understand that the universe is structured so that interacting with the absolute state of matter inherently forces it to alter its form, preventing a direct, unmediated view of total reality.
We are protected. Human life exists in a very particular mediated state. Living cells require membranes to regulate internal pressure and chemical balances. Oxygen is vital for human life, yet in its pure form is highly toxic and kills lung tissue. Did you know that it takes 23 branches in the human lung system before the oxygen is mediated to a state in which it becomes absorbable to human cells? Human interaction with Absolute destroys the equilibrium required to live.
The Man of Steel
But, what is this that Jesus revealed in the Beatitudes? “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Was he speaking of physical sight or a profound transformation allowing the “receiver” to withstand the “Source”? St. Augustine4 and Thomas Aquinas5 point us to understanding human sight. The physical eye “sees” physical light because they share a similar nature. Thus, “the pure of heart seeing God” is pointing us to a profound change in nature–where the human is drawn to harmonize and match the Source–the Absolute. As Christ said: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), echoing the law: “Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16). In this way, we will see God and become as Christ: one with Him, one with the Absolute. This is the natural state and frequency of the pure heart.
However, purity of heart is not only sinlessness, it is also spotlessness and is singularly focused on the Absolute: God our Father, the Source. No chaos, no conflict, no ego: perfect compatibility with the infinite, perfect reflection of divine light, where any spot would cause evaporation of the whole. The observer–purified by the crucible’s inferno–and the observed achieve perfect resonance within the vesica piscis: the overlapping space between the Creator and Man.
Having successfully achieved mastery of the inner life, we have thus returned to our original intended state: the image of God, holy as He is holy. I and the Father are one. This is the objective of the inner life. It is a phase of the working out of one’s salvation in fear and trembling (Phillipians 2:12)–knowing that just behind that veil lies the Holy of Holies: the Absolute radiating light that will shred away every spot and shadow. And, if I am shadow, then I know that I will dissolve. Yes, despite the fear, a human heart in such a state is also inflamed by love for God the Father–or rather is it His love that enflames our hearts? Yet, the fear never could extinguish such a love as His and we are held buoyant by His grace. And thus, not without some trepidation, we are compelled by His love to reach for Him, behind the veil. We must dance with Him in Shekinah Glory. And the kings of this world, who like Nebuchadnezzar do not know the cost of a bread to survive,6 will look on and say, “I peered into the fiery furnace, and beheld not three men, but four men were there and they were not consumed by the fire, but they danced!”.7
So, we resist this world’s ways and submit to the purification of the all-consuming fire while holding fast the promise of Christ the Redeemer: “Truly, I tell you: He that believes in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). This is the inner life. The work of the conscious soul to enter into divine fiery ecstasy with the Creator–the Source, in recognition that the Absolute does not want to consume me. He wants to dance with me! And in this dance within the crucible, He wants to make me a Man of Steel.
And we partake in that rapturous dance! We sing! We dance in the freshness of spring, which is our rebirth. How swiftly He rushes to meet us there and occupy the space between us! Unmediated joy, divine ecstasy: Him in me and me in Him! How He delights in our embrace! It is the marriage banquet. It is the festival of the soul alighted upon the very breath of the Logos.
The contemplative life of interior prayer gives way eventually to a continual state of intense desire for alignment with the Divine Will. In all thoughts and interactions, such a one as this Man of Steel seeks alignment and also is greatly disturbed in sensing misalignment. The disturbance–the sensation of dissonance from the Divine Design–compells such a one to run with all expediency back to the altar, to grab the horns and beg again at the Mercy Seat for divine intervention which alone returns such a one as this to the peace above all understanding, the state of equilibrium that the soul craves. For such a one as this is a hearty, fully developed mature soul that can no longer subsist on the crumbs falling from the table of the elect, or the drops of milk from the nipple. Neigh, this mature soul must sit at the table and must eat of the bread of life: which is the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus, the Eucharist.
Thus fulfilled by the Eucharist, the state of equilibrium is achieved.This splendid state is a divine place. The vesica piscis8 is the sacred overlapping space between Him and me; it is the place at which that which is reflected by Christ Jesus: the perfect image of God the Father, becomes the reflection given off by the pure heart of a man. The alignment is perfect, at this place of equilibrium, there is no dissonance, there is no dark spot, there is no hidden fold where the ego may hide. It is as perfectly smooth silver, like the moon glowing back the radiant light of the sun.This is purity, and the continual process of purification, as cool flowing waters unceasingly washing over and refreshing the soul. This is the interior life of the Christian (the one like Christ). This is what the alchemists called the Albedo phase (the whitening)9 or, the Illuminative Way that the mystics speak of in poems, sacred symbols, and allegories.10
Thus, from this mystical state–the man forged into steel, a perfect reflection of God the Father through Christ, achieving perfect resonance with the vibration of radiating Absolute–emerges into this precious condition we call Freedom.
Let us take heed here. The inner life is not our end goal–the Albedo, the brilliant whitening–is a phase, not a state of being in which to dwell.11 We are warned of the danger of desiring the Albedo phase to the point of fashioning it into a continual state. This is the danger of Quietude, that many have cautioned.12 It is an alluring experience, we would like to stay here forever, consumed by His grace and love. But for His namesake, His delight in us causes a new tension to arise. The vesica piscis is not supreme rest: it becomes unbearable tension, as a woman in the throngs of the pains of labor. But this is not the same tension as the first dissonance experienced by the believer, which signaled misalignment and caused such a one as this to run unabated back to the altar of Christ.
No, this tension is the exact opposite. It is a tension which beckons one to GO! Leave now! It is a distasteful directive that such a one so in love with Christ wishes she could unhear. Many arguments arise at this time, laying out the many reasons why she should not be trusted to leave the safe cloistering of her soul with His. Many pleas to remain forever in the chamber of the Bridegroom issue forth from her lips mingled with bitter tears. And finally, she submits, her time of Albedo, a perfected Moon reflecting the divine Sun, must come to a close. The honeymoon is over, and now for His namesake, she must return to His people, to gather the remnant so that He may be their God.
This is the state of Freedom. One can choose to stay in the chambers of the Bridegroom, even sensing that this choice is less pleasing to Christ who of course, we know, left the house of his Father to gather back the lost sheep. But to choose to leave, to take one step brings to full cognizance the emergence of the state of Freedom. Freedom first becomes apparent against the backdrop of the Void between Heaven and Earth. Freedom is sensed in the realization that the Void is traversable for not just the self, but for all humanity. And such a man as this, is compelled to build a tangible bridge for the remnant to cross. To name this bridge, I draw upon the language of Catholic Social Thought and call it: Integral Human Development.13
With this view, we (re)discover that Freedom is not as much a casting off of chains as it is a "weight" we choose to place upon our souls. This Freedom is felt as a crushing weight because it requires absolute spiritual discipline, submission to divine order, and internal governance. The Man of Steel knows the hardship of this weight.
I know how difficult it is to endure
I shed my sweat and know how to appreciate
at the limit of humility
I make my space
I consider myself a Man of Steel.
(DMN, 1998, Homem de Aço)14
To such a one as this, in perfect equilibrium, dawns a realization: I am perfectly free! Anything I choose is in alignment with the Divine, anything I ask, I will receive, for I believe in Him as I believe in my own existence, and yet it is not my existence, but His existence in me that I yearn for purely and wholly in harmony with His yearning for my existence in Him. Here, in the vesica piscis–the shared space between the Creator and the created in His image–emerges the naturally, divinely designed state of human Freedom. In this place of perfect equilibrium all possibility exists and is perfect. For such a man as this no longer desires any low frequency, he desires only that which resonates with the Absolute’s highest frequency: love. There is no ego here, just true, pure, unadulterated, unmediated Imago Dei.
Newly arrived in this emergent state of Freedom we see the one who has entered the ecstasy of seeing the face of God and has achieved perfect equilibrium with the Absolute. Such a one as this is in perfect resonance, he perfectly reflects supreme divinity. Such a one as this is divine, transmuted from dense heavy iron to crystal-clear, pure gold. He is holy as God is holy. He has entered the Rubedo phase, or the Unio Mystica: washed in the blood of the Lamb.15 Putting aside the white wedding gown for the crimson red robe, the initiate to the court of the Most High steps into the divine working out of the renewal of the Earth; otherwise stated: the birth of the new Earth.
This Freedom is also understood as a step that we take from the glorious chamber of the Bridegroom into the court of the Most High. Before the sapphire throne, we take our seat at the banquet table and consider now again the nations of the Earth and the task of governing them in peace and justice. It is from the marriage banquet table where we reenter our reconsideration of governance, and the treatise that expounds upon the notion of human Freedom. That is: we have returned to the subject of governance and the role of (the steel) man to contribute to the divine work of Integral Development.
See: Riccardo Colasanti MD. (2026, July 5). The Freedom That Kills. RIIDblog ↩︎
Teresa of Ávila, St. (1976). The collected works of St. Teresa of Avila (K. Kavanaugh & O. Rodriguez, Trans.; Vol. 1). ICS Publications. (Original work published 1565) ↩︎
See: Daniel 3: 24-27. ↩︎
Augustine. (2003). Letter 147: Seeing God; Letter 148: To Fortunatianus. In B. Ramsey (Ed.) & R. J. Teske (Trans.), The works of Saint Augustine: A translation for the 21st century: Letters 100–155 (Pt. 2, Vol. 2, pp. 315–367). New City Press. (Original work written ca. 413) ↩︎
Aquinas, T. (1920). The Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas (Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Benziger Bros. (Original work lines composed 1265–1274). Reprinted by New Advent. newadvent.org ↩︎
DMN. (1998). Homem de aço [Song]. On H. aço. Independent. https://music.youtube.com/@DMNOficial ↩︎
See: Daniel 3. ↩︎
Fletcher, R. (2004). Musings on the vesica piscis. Nexus Network Journal, 6(1), 95–107. doi.org ↩︎
Jung, C. G. (1980). Psychology and alchemy (H. Read et al., Eds.; R. F. C. Hull, Trans.; 2nd ed., Vol. 12). Routledge. (Original work published 1944) ↩︎
John of the Cross, St. (1959). Dark night of the soul (E. A. Peers, Ed. & Trans.). Image Books. (Original work published c. 1585) ↩︎
Jung, C. G. (1980). Psychology and alchemy (H. Read et al., Eds.; R. F. C. Hull, Trans.; 2nd ed., Vol. 12). Routledge. (Original work published 1944). ↩︎
See: Merton, T. (1998). Thoughts in solitude. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (Original work published 1958). ↩︎
Pope Paul VI. (1967, March 26). Populorum progressio [On the development of peoples] (Encyclical letter). The Holy See. https://vatican.va ↩︎
DMN. (1998). Homem de aço [Song]. On H. aço. Independent. https://music.youtube.com/@DMNOficial ↩︎
Catherine of Siena. (1980). The dialogue (S. Noffke, Trans.). Paulist Press. (Original work published ca. 1377–1378) ↩︎
How to cite this article
Sarah Pattison PhD. (2026, July 26). The Weight of Freedom: Freedom Emerges from the Inner Life 2. The RIID Review. http://riidblog.org/post/26-07-2026/