Fellowship of St. Silas

February 2012

In an acceptable time I heard You, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I give You as a covenant to the Gentiles, to establish the earth and to inherit the inheritance of the desert, saying to those in bonds, ‘Go forth,’ and in those in darkness, ‘Reveal yourselves.’ They shall feed along all their roads, and their pasture shall be along all the paths. They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst, nor shall the burning heat of the sun strike them: but He who has mercy on them will comfort them; and He shall lead them by the fountains of waters, (Isaiah 49:8-10)
 
Dear Friends,
 
The word "prisoner" evokes many thoughts and perceptions regarding the person(s) who is in prison. We may reflect upon the political prisoner, the persecuted prisoner, the unjust prisoner and the categories go on. I have been thinking about the prisoner of passions and the prisoner bound by fallen human instincts i.e.: the self chained prisoner bound by sin and darkness. I think we all can relate to this, especially at this time before Lent.
I recently met with a young man who was troubled by many problems inside and outside himself. "Luke" was abandoned as a child and he grew up in a divorced and scattered family. He said to me, "from a early age I was on my own. I grew up without the guidance of a father or mother. My family, so to speak, were those who lived in rebellion towards the law and our main aim was to get high on illegal drugs. Life had no meaning."
Having no familial roots, he was also void of any type of spiritual formation. He tried all the different paths of protestant spirituality which he participated in while doing time in prison. But he became despondent when one of the other inmates told him the true roots of the Christian faith could be only in the bible. This troubled Luke because of the many sub-groups of Christians who met at the prison chapel; all claiming to have the true belief in Jesus.

When Luke was released from prison he was in utter despair. He told me he had never felt so empty, his life was meaningless. Then a door was opened for him. He found a small pamphlet called "Broken Chains." The booklet was written by a former drug addict who found new freedom from the prison of passions. The author wrote about an inner freedom which he found in the prayers and worship of the Orthodox Christian Church. Luke went to his computer to find out more about this un-familiar faith. While he fished around for direction on his computer, he came to the word, "monastery". Luke fled to a local monastery believing it was our Lord’s direction. Luke is now at the monastery where he is being taught the Christian path of repentance and prayer.

May God deliver us all from the emptiness of this world so that we can live a true life of freedom. Please continue to pray for those in prison and for their salvation.
 
Fr. David