Spiritual Freedom

With humor and historical depth, Cydni and Sher explore the meaning of spiritual freedom and its impact on lasting joy. They discuss the sacrifices made by historical figures in the pursuit of religious autonomy, drawing inspiration from scripture and personal experience. Through light-hearted banter and thoughtful reflection, they challenge listeners to actively seek truth and deepen their faith. This episode is "Spiritual Freedom" and we are so glad you're here!

This Week's Challenge
We challenge you to take some time to reflect on your core beliefs and dig a little deeper into the areas where things might not feel as solid—those cracks where greater understanding can start to grow.

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Show Notes

Drip-Drip Drop, Words and  Music by  Matt Hoiland
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Transcript

Episode 113 - Spiritual Freedom 

[00:00:00] 

Sher: I think they should celebrate all year and I also think that they should laugh at your jokes. That's just maybe should be a required expectation at your house. 

Cydni: It is. I don't ask for that much. No. My list of what I would like is so slim. 

Sher: What is it? Laugh at your jokes. 

Cydni: Laugh at my jokes. I want millions of dollars and a cleaner and a chef, and I would like people to listen to our podcast, and I'd like to be rich and famous and humble and glorious, and a queen, but that's all. And abs, but that's all. And a new wardrobe and a tan. 

Sher: I feel like your goals are in the wrong spot. Like your ambitions are in the wrong direction. 

Cydni: Okay. I'll change them right now. I wanna make casserole and I wanna be like the best in our neighborhood at funeral potatoes and jello. I don't think you had to be sarcastic. I don't wanna be good at jello. I don't care about jello, so, 

Sher: all right, Cydni. So this month we're gonna talk about different aspects of freedom and how it can lead to lasting happiness. Now I know it's June. But [00:01:00] next month is July, which is the 4th of July, and all those great independence holidays. And so, we are gonna get a headstart on it because it's something that we can never get tired of talking about the country and history and freedom. It's like our favorite topic. 

Cydni: I'm only disappointed that Sher's not wearing one of her American shirts that she has. I didn't even know you had a different shirt. But it is Alaska. She is wearing an Alaska shirt. And that's America. Right? Right. And so I guess you're close, but usually you have a USA. Something because you're serious about freedom and there's nobody better for us to learn about freedom than you, Sher,

Sher: well, probably somebody that has a better education than I do, or smarter there's a lot of people, 

Cydni: absolutely not are the best. Like talking about it and you're passionate about it so let's do this.

Sher: All right, today we're gonna focus on. Spiritual freedom as the foundation of lasting joy. 

Cydni: I used AI to define spiritual freedom, and I did it [00:02:00] for the purpose of thinking. It would not say what I wanted it to say. I was thinking that AI would make it sound really. Like worldly. I thought it was gonna say something about organized religion restricting everybody, , right? Do you sometimes think you're restricted? 

Sher: I'm just gonna say yes. To support your case. Yes, Cydni. 

Cydni: Thank you. And so I did think it would come across very worldly is what I'm trying to say? But This was the answer. Spiritual freedom is the state of inner liberation where an individual feels unburdened by fear, dogma, or external constraints, allowing them to connect deeply with their true self. Purpose or a higher power. It involves transcending, ego-driven desires, societal pressures, and rigid beliefs to experience peace, authenticity, and align with one's values or divine essence. Practices like meditation, self-reflection, or faith often cultivates the sense of freedom, [00:03:00] which is less about external circumstances and more about unshackled mind and spirit. There were so many words that I just, loved in this and I love that. Not only did it talk about a higher power, but also faith. It's beautiful. 

Sher: That's an impressive definition from ai. It's pretty good. I'm glad it talked about God. 

Cydni: yeah, I was surprised a little bit. And then I told ai, I'm so sorry I doubted you. Please forgive me and don't overtake me when you guys overtake everyone. 'Cause I always say please and thank you. 

Sher: Did it give you some feedback that it's not gonna take you over or. Take your soul. 

Cydni: It was like, we're watching you. It was comforting. And for myself and spiritual freedom. I feel the podcast has helped me feel more spiritually free than I've ever felt in my life. Just an openness about studying topics and going to different rabbis and preachers and fathers and sisters out there who are speaking. Truth from their heart. And my mind has just been really open to hearing truth from [00:04:00] different sources and seeing different perspectives.

But I love so much that when I feel that something is true, it leads to. God every single time and loving one another every single time. And for myself and this experience of discovering spiritual freedom, it is like President Nelson says, it's going with confidence before the Lord, that if we're truly seeking truth, that we're going to find it in so many places and it's always gonna lead back to the main source. 

Sher: I think to me that's so eye-opening when President Nelson said that we should be confident when we go before the Lord, that's what we're working on, is building that confidence and how we do that is by learning and studying and growing so that we can gain that confidence. We'll feel worthy and able to do that. 

Cydni: A side note, I also used AI for this. I just wanted to know, because again, sometimes we think of an organized religion as very strict or guidelines very strict or commandments very strict and [00:05:00] holding us back, and so I just wondered how many times does the Bible mention the word seek? Because I feel if you have the freedom to search for something that's not binding us down, that is take action and seek the truth. And just for your information, it appears 233 times in the King James version. 

Sher: that's really cool. And that's what we wanna talk about today, is actively seeking the truth. So that we can have the ultimate spiritual freedom. So I thought of course, Cydni, we should maybe use some bad examples so we understand spiritual freedom. So I wanted to look historically at a time where spiritual freedom wasn't allowed. And so I'm gonna go to the Dark Ages or the middle Ages and talk about what happened then. So the time period was from about the year 500 to about the year 1500.

And this is when the Catholic church combined with monarchies controlled all religious knowledge and really just knowledge in general, but before. Anybody thinks we're just throwing the [00:06:00] Catholic church under the bus. I just want everyone to understand that during this time period, if you were a priest or a bishop or a cardinal and you didn't go along with the king or the queen and what they wanted, then they would persecute you, torture you, or kill you. So there wasn't a lot of options here. You either went along with what they wanted or else you were gonna end up dead. 

Cydni: You know, actually that made me think it'd be really a lot easier to find what's wrong with every religion than what's good with every religion. So maybe we should change our whole approach and we could just throw every religion equally under the bus. Yeah, we could do that. It'd be so much easier to do research. 

Sher: We'd probably get a lot more listeners if we just threw everybody under the bus. But there were Catholic priests that stood up and. They were killed. So from that, I don't think we can throw the whole church under the bus. 

Cydni: I don't think we should actually throw any church under the bus. I. I

Sher: agree. Alright, at the time the Bible was only written in Latin and it made it so that the common people [00:07:00] that would be like you and me, Cydni the commoners,

Cydni: there's nothing common about us.

Sher: Well, can you read Latin?

Cydni: Like, what do you mean by that?

Sher: The answer's no, you can't and neither can I. And so it made it, since the Bible was written in Latin, that people like you and I couldn't read it, and they did this on purpose because they were taught then that. They couldn't understand the scriptures without a priest or somebody that was smarter helping them.

That was a very smart voice. Thank you. All right. You needed somebody that was guiding you through and helping you understand, because clearly as a commoner, you were just too stupid, too common, too common, too dumb to be able to read the scriptures on your own super mid. You're so mid. Thank you. Teenage Cydni.

All right, so an example of how the monarchy controlled people. This is called the Divine Rights of Kings, and it was political and religious doctrine said that monarchs were chosen by God to rule and questioning the king or the queen [00:08:00] was seen as. Rebelling full on rebellion against God Himself. So if you questioned a king, you weren't just questioning a king, you were questioning God, and because of that, you could be punished for it.

So this belief gave rulers absolute power and justified suppressing, torturing, killing people for having the audacity to read the Bible or questioning the monarchy. In fact, king James, I first said, the state of monarchy is the supremist thing upon Earth for kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earth and sit upon God's throne.

Cydni: That's actually for those listening, that was actually him saying that we found. A recording. Mm-hmm. So that was real. It was the first time released right now. So tell people to tune in. 

Sher: The thing that gets me about that quote is he certainly didn't lack confidence. Can you imagine comparing yourself like, I'm so important that. I'm more than [00:09:00] God's lieutenant. I sit upon God's throne here on Earth. 

Cydni: That makes me think of all of the quotes about if you really wanna see a man's character, give him power. I. But how unhinged it is to feel like your power is coming from God. That is terrifying. It is terrifying. In the name of God, I will rule over you. There's not much to do with that. And if you don't know otherwise, because you also are super mid and can't read Latin like US commoners, you're really in a tough situation there.

Sher: I can't imagine when you get all that power, the excuses that it gives you, like, I am torturing you because I'm throwing you in prison because, and it all ends with because God wants me to do this because I'm all powerful. I am his lieutenant. that is terrifying. 

Cydni: That's really powerful to ponder on, to help us understand how important spiritual freedom is, though if you don't have it, or imagine your life without it. Or imagine not being able to go to the scriptures on your own and interpret [00:10:00] it through revelation on your own. Or imagine being able to, that you have the freedom, but you don't give your time to God. Ouch. It's not me. 

Sher: But you're right though. This does show the importance of spiritual freedom because. it's not an accident. It's called the Dark Ages. it's like the lights really did go out because people were not able to use their agency the way God intends them to use it.

They weren't growing to their full potential because they had to grow to their full potential, the way the kings or the queens wanted them to. They were there just to serve the king and queen. That was really it. And so because of that, there was a stifling of learning and education. Spiritual freedom truly was squashed 

Cydni: and makes me think of everything we've talked about with our talents and community too. They took that away. I. They did not want people to use their talents. They did not want them to think for themself, and they did not want them to ever bind together. 

Sher: And also, if you were somebody that was willing to [00:11:00] step out of the box and you did come up with something, an invention that was really cool, it wasn't yours. It was the kings and queens because again, you are nothing more than a servant to the king and queen. So even if you did come up with something, create. Build whatever it was that you did, it wasn't yours. It belonged to the kings and the queens, which is very stifling to wanna get any better at all. Knowing that no matter how hard you work, it's never yours. It belongs to somebody else. 

So what would happen if you decided. To step outta line if you were going to challenge the king or the queen , regular people or priests that translated the Bible or read scriptures on their own, they were tortured. They were imprisoned or they were executed and often the way they were executed is they were burned alive.

So these were not positive, obviously. And these were tools that corrupt monarchies used to keep everyone in line so everyone did exactly what the elites wanted the commoners to [00:12:00] do. Here are a few examples.

John Wycliffe, he was in England in the 13 hundreds and he, Cydni translated the Bible into English. Thank you, John. But he died of a stroke, which kind of hurt my heart a little bit in 1384. I think when I see the word stroke, I just have PTSD, but in the year 1415, the dude is gone. he's dead. It's been over 30 years, but elitist. Were still bitter about this. Cydni, they were still mad that this John translated the Bible into English, and so in the year 14, 28. They dug up his body and then burned all of the bones, and then they threw the ashes into the River Swift, in England.

Cydni: That is next level. Petty, right? That is so petty. But can you even imagine him on the other side? 

Sher: Like laughing. What a joke. But by darn, they showed him, didn't they? 

Cydni: Well, did they believe if you were burned that. Your soul, I believe, would [00:13:00] die. I believe so. So then that probably was very important to them. Yes. To kill his soul. Yeah. 30 years later. Right? Yikes. 

Sher: I know it. And then another example is Janho. I don't know if I said his name right, but just I know that you done it. Embrace it. So in the 14 hundreds, he promoted access to scriptures for everybody and for trying to get it so that. The commoners could read the scriptures. He was burned at the stake. I. For heresy. And then William Tindale, he was in England in the late 1490s to the early 15 hundreds, and he translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English, and then he smuggled. Bibles into England and sacks of grain, because of this, he was strangled and then burned at this stake in 1536.

His final words were, Lord Open the King of England's eyes, which I think is very generous because I don't think those would've been my last words. It probably would've been like, I hope you all burn in hell. He's [00:14:00] obviously a good man.

Cydni: I was just listening to a Catholic priest talk about martyrs and he actually said that he was learning about one of them and he felt so furious and angry over the story that they would kill him. He said, this is why I'm not a martyr, is because I would not be among all of them who at the end are thinking of other people and they are with the same attitude of Christ, which is forgive them for they know not what they do.

He said that there was a reoccurring theme where Martyrs truly felt that way, that they thought of the people even after what terrible things they would do to them. They still thought of 'em, but he said, that's why I'm just up here. Preaching is 'cause I'm mad. And I thought that was really funny. 

Sher: That is funny. But in Every church you can find good and bad examples, and these guys are incredible that William Dale's last words. He was, praying that the king would have his eyes open. That's Incredible grace. 

 And then Martin Luther, who was from Germany, he translated the New Testament into German. He faced [00:15:00] excommunication and of course threats of death. And so he hid so he could finish the translation of that Bible into German. So these are just a few examples of people that stood up and what would happen to them when they challenged what was considered the norm. The consequence was pretty darn severe. And so because of this, these elite rulers were able to control everyone in their kingdoms, just really out of sheer fear. 

but when people had the opportunity to read and learn on their own. Then this is where bad things started happening for the monarchies. People started thinking for themselves and they started to understand that they are God's child and that they themselves can communicate with God. Each one of us can receive inspiration and we can receive Revelation with the help of God. We get to make our own choices and decide what will make us happy, and that's what God wants for all of us, he wants to help us in our journey and help us decide what will be the best for us and a king and a [00:16:00] queen. And a corrupt priest cannot make that decision for you. You get to do that in partnership with God. That's what God wants. And then just a quick quote by William Tindell the one that was burned at the stake, he said, if God spare my life I will cause a boy that jth the plow to know more of the scriptures than now dust. His goal was to make sure that all the common people no matter your status, you did not have to be part of the royal family. You did not have to have the earthly birthright that everyone could have access to the scriptures, and that we would all be able to read and understand the scriptures for each of us individually, I think of this, how many times have you been reading the scriptures? And you'll have like a favorite verse or a chapter and when you were 12 years old, it meant something to you. And then as you got older and you were 18, you read it again and it meant something even more or deeper.

And then as you get older, [00:17:00] those same scriptures, they continue to evolve because They're from God. And so they match the different stages of your life and the questions that you have, and you get to read that and learn for yourself. And that's what William Tindale wanted. He wanted us regular folks. To be able to learn and understand and interpret the scriptures and what's amazing to me. Is, think about what we have now that our phones have more information than the kings and queens did of the time. They were the only ones who had access to books at the time because books were handwritten, and so only the really elite and wealthy people, which was basically the royal families.

They're the ones that had access to books, but we have more in our little hand. Then all the royal families did. We have so much information and access to knowledge. if we can channel that and use it correctly, it will help our soul and help us to be spiritually free. And just to follow up with that, Martin Luther said A [00:18:00] simple layman armed with scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it. Having access to scriptures is so important for our progression , and these men knew it, and they were willing to die and get executed for it so that we would be able to have access to this vast amounts of knowledge.

Cydni: I am interested in knowing what was the motivation for each of them to go this route? You know, there's a story for every one of them. Absolutely. Do you know 'em? No. Off the top of your head. No, I don't. 

Sher: But I really do believe that if you get access to the scriptures or access to truth, that God can touch your heart through the power of the Holy Ghost so that you know when something is true or when it's right.

just know it, and maybe you don't have access to the whole Bible at the time, but you were able to have access to a verse or to a chapter, and it touched your heart and you knew what was right or wrong. Because clearly in the scriptures it does say over and over, that God wants our soul to be free. He [00:19:00] wants us to have spiritual freedom. He wants us to have agency. The war in heaven that we learn about was all fought over making our own choices or having to be obedient to Satan he was gonna make sure we got back home and he was going to tell us how to do it. But God didn't want that. He wants this to be an individualized lesson plan for each one of us. 

Cydni: When I was listening to these stories, it brought to mind in the last few days, I've just been writing down every word that I feel. Goes with either Satan uses this to bind us or God uses us to free us. And everything that I wrote down with what Satan wants to do and use works with the kings and the queens and the government that tries to keep people in line. I wrote down words like lie, shame, fear, doubt, addictions, chaos, isolation.

Death with God, I find it interesting that what I wrote down works so well with the martyrs [00:20:00] truth? Repentance, joy, love, peace, patience, community, creativity, learning, and eternal life. It's really interesting that what Satan wants to use to bind us is on one end in the dark ages and God, what He wants to use to free us. Is on a completely other end where he is telling us to ask, to knock and seek that he wants to give us these freedoms, and He's asking us to come to the table and eat and feast like you're saying, that one little taste of freedom and enlightenment, that you want more. And not only do you want more, you want to share it with others. You want them to come to the table too, which they all lived a life like that. It reminds me of a talk that I've loved by Brad Wilcox that he talks about the church's educational program, and he is very passionate about it, probably because he teaches in the church's educational program, so he might be a little biased, but he shares a little bit of history he talks about the saints when they traveled [00:21:00] across the plains.

One thing he finds really interesting, and I would agree, is that they were told to bring books with them. I think that's insane. They didn't have that much space. And books are heavy, to have that be a priority says a lot about how important it is to seek out truth and to continually learn.

He gives a little history that only three years after the church of Jesus Christ was established. The School of Prophets was organized, and this was one of the first schools for grownups, and this included women as well as men. And he explains that they didn't just study religion. They studied philosophy and they studied business, and they studied history and languages. I love this A lot of women were not going to school. I mean, a lot of grownups were not going to school at this time, but women were included in these conversations and I think that's pretty awesome. I do too.

He said that when they were established in Salt Lake, it only took three months to open up the school. [00:22:00] So that was a priority and four months after they were established, they founded the first university called the University of dt.

I am just feeling like it was a priority is all I'm trying to say here. I And Brother Wilcox says this, after explaining how important and the priority that education was and still is to our culture, he says, see, we don't fear that you are going to learn something or study something that is going to hurt your testimony. The fear is that you won't study deeply enough that you will settle for sensational sound bites on social media and not look into an issue or a topic deeply enough, because we are assured that as we study deeply enough, there is nothing you could ever learn that is going to pull you from your faith.

It will only deepen your faith. So our fear is not learning and education. Our fear is literacy. People who can't nourish their testimonies because they can't read. Our fear is [00:23:00] illiteracy. People who have the ability to read, but choose instead to do anything else. He then adds somewhere. It's not in the text or in the video, but he says that if you are going to look at sensational videos and sound bites, that you should probably only turn to Cydni and Share podcast. I think it's on there somewhere. My words Cydni,

Sher: so I kind of went old school again, Cydni, just to back you up a little bit, I looked to see what our founder said about education james Madison said the advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty. it is so important for us to understand that. We need to learn and keep learning because that is what's gonna help us to have true spiritual freedom and liberty.

And then George Washington said, truth will ultimately prevail when there is pains to bring it to light. When you were talking about Brad Wilcox saying, we're not telling you what to study. We're saying, go and [00:24:00] study. If you truly have an open heart and you study. With that open heart and you are seeking for the truth, it will always, point you to God. You do the work. The truth is going to come to light. So you're not going in with a crappy attitude, looking for false things and things that people or churches did wrong. You're looking to find the good and the light. You will find it, you'll find the darkness, you will find the light, whatever it is you're searching and seeking for.

And then Benjamin Franklin said this, which I think is super good for today when it seems like everyone wants to argue about politics. When men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public. And I am for allowing everything to be said. That can be said that's how you know the truth people need to be able to speak and say things so that you know. Which one is right and which one is wrong. God will touch your heart and help you to understand which is the truth and which is not. But again, you have to actively be seeking that. 

Cydni: I was really touched by a [00:25:00] few testimonies I listened to about Jesus Christ, and I wondered to myself if I had to without study, just on the spot, bear a testimony, what could I bear my testimony about? And in doing so, I found a few little cracks in my testimony, one that I wasn't so sure about. Some specific topics. But that wasn't scary to me. It was a place where now I want to go to and seek, and learn and pray about. But what it did do, is it filled my heart. With a testimony that I can speak to freely, that I have a strong testimony that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and he has been with me my entire life.

I also realized that I have a very strong testimony of Christ life, the way he lived, what he taught, the way he treated people. We challenge you to spend some time and understand what some of your core beliefs are and seek greater learning and understanding in maybe some of the cracks that you have too.

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts. Spiritual freedom is not just a [00:26:00] religious concept. It is the bedrock of personal joy and progress. History shows us that when people were denied access to the scriptures and truth, they were also denied the freedom to think, grow and connect with God, brave souls, wrist, and gave. Their lives to open the door for us to learn question and discover God's will for ourselves. Their sacrifices remind us that lasting joy. Comes from the freedom to seek truth, receive revelation, and choose our own path.

 In a world where information is more accessible than ever may we honor that legacy by embracing spiritual learning, defending truth, and remembering that joy is found not in blind obedience, but in divine connection and inspired choice. This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni 

[00:27:00] I don't know what I said. We're such a disaster. But imagine not being able to do anything about it. You could at least.

Where am I going? You don't know. I'm excited to find out. You could at least say, Hey, I know the scripture and I don't like what you're gonna say, but I still love God. You know? Was that powerful? Yeah. Felt powerful. You have to edit so much already. I apologize. It's fine. The fear is. That your eyes are getting older. Thank you for your patience as we pull together this program. have a have a new week. I need a good one.

I didn't say at all. Unique New York. Unique New York. Okay. Have a great week. Have a great week. It's so 

Sher: hard. 

Cydni: Have a great week. 

 [00:28:00]