Religion has long provided this structure and foundation. But this longing for attachment and structure and order is matched by another, equally strong, polarity force. Also deep in the human condition is the desire for freedom, the desire to be set free from things which bind us, things which tie us down. They are, instead, impediments, dragging behind the ship when we eagerly want to go to another place. Religion has equally answered this longing for freedom in the human condition.
Religion provides structure, but it also provides release.
Jesus talks deeply about being the New Law, the truth which sets us free from our bondage. Much of Christianity's success has been related to leading people out of bondage into new life. Today, in our homage to love, we meet those twin pulls of religion. At their best, this is what mothers and fathers and parents provide for us, too. Loving parents set their children free, and they also set up structures of order and life.