Meat for the Hungry

The blinding stream of light swept across the courtyard. It wouldn’t return for another five minutes, I had it timed perfectly. Lying flat on my belly, head raised, forearms in position and toes dug in, I began an army-crawl across the compound. Inching toward a hole in the wall, something grabbed my ankle chains. I kicked to break free, but to no avail. Pain shot through my arms as I lugged my body toward that hole. Freedom was twenty yards away, but this thing held me back. With each pull forward, I’d be yanked back two. “Let me go!” I whisper-shouted. “No way!” it cackled. “I’m not guilty! I’m innocent I tell you. I must break free!” “You can’t, you will never be free!”

American Flags - www.wikipedia.org As we begin our second week of breaking free, consider your initial reaction to the thought of a physical, emotional, or spiritual prison . Did you think it too harsh an analogy, or did you have an epiphany and say, “Yes, that’s exactly the way I feel”? Last time, we focused on physical prisons constructed of materials beyond our control. This time, we are discussing an emotional penitentiary built by someone else:  A verbally abusive spouse, a domineering friend or family member, a child’s drug addiction, etc. Many factors can cause emotional incarceration and we may feel these are also beyond our control, but are they? Although we cannot really control another person, or how they treat us, we can do something about our reaction and emotions. So, what can we do?

American Flags - www.wikipedia.org Freedom is one of our most prize possessions. As American citizens, we talk about it, sing about it, and we love our military for keeping us free. However, in our personal lives we may not be free at all. Many things can hold us captive. They may be physical, emotional, or spiritual. Nevertheless, we end up feeling as though we live in prison . But, what type of prison ?

Spirit of 76 - www.wikipedia.org On July 2, 1776, in a secretive meeting set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence proposed in June 1776, by Richard Henry Lee. A committee of five men, with Thomas Jefferson as primary writer, compiled a document known to us as the Declaration of Independence. According to http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html , “ What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy [of individual liberty] in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.”