Cultural Imprisonment

Pope John Paul II referred to our modern Western culture as one that "tends to imprison man in the earthly life" (Reconciliation and Penance, p67). How quickly we fall away from Christ! How quickly we lose sight of the reality beyond the reach of our five bodily senses! Colossians 2:8 warns us "See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Yet in the name of freedom we insist that anything we cannot see, taste, smell, hear, or touch must not exist or at least does not affect us. Does denying reality lead to freedom? I think it only puts us in a position to fail.