When I Spent Time In Prison
A prison visit gave me an idea for a “story”:
I heard about the maltreatment & suffering of prisoners and so, the other day I went to a brutal maximum security prison and I voluntarily opted to be locked up for a while for a firsthand experience of their plight.
While there, I discovered most of the prisoners had absolutely no idea why they were incarcerated & cos they had no idea of the reason for incarceration & neither had advocates to plead their cause, I found many had already served out their sentences yet couldn’t leave.
I took it upon myself to teach & guide them on why they were there & also taught them how to survive outside prison because the laws, rules & behavior within the prison aren’t compatible with the code of survival on the outside. Prison behavior, if exhibited outside, will only get you back in.
Understandably, some of them were very skeptical as it seemed too easy to be true; but I told them that the only condition for their release was to trust & believe me & follow the principles I taught. But it was tough as all this ran contrary to everything they learnt & practiced all their lives.
Some of them accused me of being self absorbed, biased, arrogant etc & one in particular was telling other prisoners that I only brought false hope since I was just a prisoner like them.
He said: “If you know so much, why are you in here with us. Prove yourself and free yourself”.
So I told him: “it’s far more important that I change the mindset of the prisoners and prepare you for freedom but for you to understand that I’m here voluntarily & can leave when I choose, I will walk out of here and to prove it, come back in 3days and after that leave again”
Another said “how can you claim to be kind and acting in our interest & yet be so wicked to condemn us to a life in prison simply because we exercise our freedom of choice & choose not to believe you? How can you on one hand say you want us free but want to condemn us as well?”
I answered: “look around you!! You are already in prison and I didn’t put you here. I am not here to condemn you my friend, by being here, you are already condemned & Ignoring me leaves you here. I can only bring you freedom & yes it will cost you but the price is cheap & easy”
Despite my message & some of the guards knowing my mission, despite my ability to leave whenever I chose, I endured the prison environment, the wickedness of prisoners & some guards; I needed a genuine first hand experience to be certain the freedom I offered was appropriate
The experience allowed me get a proper insight into their lives, experiences, pain & desires and so, with my team of lawyers, I knew exactly how to successfully advocate for each of their cases till I obtained warrants of release for EACH & EVERY ONE OF THEM
But as you can imagine, only those who believe they can actually get out will ask to use the warrants. Some have their warrants and yet refuse to leave cos they don’t believe they can survive the outside life despite all my assurances to them. Not-so-surprisingly, they choose prison.
There were some of those who tested the use of the warrants to get out and actually did but they didn’t follow the instruction I gave for peaceful living outside and so, kept getting into trouble with law enforcement and then began complaining that prison life was more peaceful and then, they considered opting to go back to prison.
Then, in an awkward twist, some of the lawyers I empowered to get people out started making the prisoners believe that they alone were capable of getting them out & then started charging the prisoners for the services which I had freely given.
They turned my work & suffering into a money making venture and they started selling the release warrants which I had already paid for in full. In addition, they told the prisoners to pay them a percentage, most go for 10%, of all the earnings they make once they get outside prison for the rest of their lives. They say “it’s to show gratitude to me”.
Well, if the prisoners listen to me, they’ll know the truth.
All I requested was that everyone who benefits from my work should share with others.
Now some want me to come back & do the work all over again but frankly, there’s no point considering I’ve already done all that needs to be done. ALL are already free if they just choose it
Then, rather amazingly, I have some very special friends who listened to me, understood my mission & they leave the prison using their warrants but voluntarily & continually go back to help others out. They understand that while they are in prison, they aren’t of the prison.
When prison begins to stress and weigh them down, they leave, recuperate and go back to continue. Doesn’t matter if they get one or a million out, I’m just so impressed at their love, sacrifice and persistence.