Prison and God

My obsession was all-powerful. Summoning all my resources, I could not dislodge it. Then three simple words did the trick: “Came to believe.” - Anonymous
We were prisoners of our obsessions. No more. Three words, “came to believe,” were the key that unlocked the gates of our personal prison.
When we rely on this power, wonderful and unexplainable things happen. Once this power unlocks the prison gates, anything is possible.
- In God’s Care, June 1

There are many ways we can be imprisoned.

One of my spiritual teachers began his spiritual awakening 30+ years ago while incarcerated. He’d run away from home when he was 13, then landed up in reform schools, jails, and the state penitentiary. This last stop was for a crime he’d not committed, but his hope of ever being released was dismal. Then he had a spiritual experience while lying in his bunk one day. It changed his attitude toward his defense lawyer and from there, miracles started happening. He was set free and his life has been about waking up and service ever since.

With all this teacher went through, he is fond of saying that he prefers his prison to have bars.

Yep, it certainly is easier when I can concretely see how I limit myself. When I was in the throes of my eating addiction, I finally was able to see that it was a symptom of something deeper. When I became open to asking for help, it was the beginning of the process of my release from prison.

When this devout atheist heard that she could choose her own conception of God, then “came to believe,” the key was turned and my prison door unlocked. Since then, relying on a Power greater than myself, I’ve been stepping out more and more from the prison of the ego, something I cannot always see as clearly has the bars of a prison cell, but surely quite as dismal.

Cultivating a close relationship with Spirit, my life has been filled with miracle upon miracle, and my soul has rejoiced. Coming to believe was the answer to my prison release and the beginning of my waking up to The Presence and this new earth.