Cassandra was featured in two guest article spots recently! Both articles are based on themes found in our novel, In the Shadows of Freedom, so we thought you would be interested in reading them.
The first is called “Shadows of Freedom” and appeared in The Evangelist, a newspaper in Albany, NY:
Imagine a society where the government strips away every seemingly unnecessary law and regulation. No more working papers, building permits, excessive taxes and overpowering central government. Put power into the hands of each autonomous individual with no “big brother” interference. This would enable the people to self-select themselves for success. But would the people of this society be free?
You may have heard of the “Free Britney” movement. It involves Britney Spears, world-renowned singer and entertainer. After a breakdown in 2009, Spears was placed under a conservatorship controlled by her father. So Spears, a woman with fame and money, one of the most popular singers of recent decades, was not free to make her own decisions. Yet, even after her father recently filed to end the conservatorship, will Spears find freedom?
The second article, “Deliver Us from Evil,” was included on the blog of St. Bernard’s (Cassandra’s alma mater, based in Rochester, NY):
We always conclude the Our Father by praying, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The same prayer, however, looks a little different when we find it in the Gospel of Matthew. It reads, “And do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one” (6:13, NAB). What is the difference—if any—between deliverance from “evil” and from the “evil one?” Are the words synonymous or is this a discrepancy in translation? And what are the implications for our own spiritual lives?
Let’s begin with a brief examination of evil, not adjectively (“He’s an evil man”) but subjectively (“Love of money is the root of evil”). It’s a bit of a paradox, however, because to define evil, one must really speak of what it is not. Evil, as a subject, cannot have any origin in God, Who is all good and the Creator of all things. A perfectly good God can only create what is good; evil, then, cannot be something created. In other words, it is not a substantial thing—a presence or entity we can hold or point to. Rather, evil is the absence of something.
We hope you enjoy these articles!
