Unafraid to be free

Finally unafraid to be free,

Ready to surrender all the illusions of

recognition and external securities,

Living off the sky and earth like soaring

eagles and braying burros,

Trusting in a Power even beyond Dow Jones

and hoarded retirement.

Finally ready to live like the noble animal that I am

Without masters or servants,
with dignity dependent on no one.

Content to know that I am God’s child, and

only good has been prepared for me.

When I am not afraid to release all that my life

and culture taught me to prize.

To abandon fears once and for all, to discard the

anxieties of a lifetime like a suit that no longer fits,

To be afraid of no one, beholden to no one,

dependent on no one.

Save the few who know and love me as I am,

and the God Who alone gives meaning and joy

to the madness of my life.

James Kavanaugh,

There are men too gentle

to live among wolves