It was dark. Crowds of people gathered behind the locked gates of prison cells. Many were well groomed and well dressed. Reading the newspaper, chatting among themselves, or looking at their phone, they appeared to be making the best of the situation. No one was especially happy or unhappy. Suddenly, there was a bright laugh from the far end of the prison. As the laughter increased, so did the light. I finally saw him, a joyful prince ran through the dungeon, laughing as he unlocked the prison gates, one by one. With each gate he unlocked, the prison became lighter. Repeatedly, he shouted you’re free! You can leave! You don’t have to stay here!
But many did stay. They didn’t recognize this prince and so they didn’t trust him. They were packed in with others that, regardless of their faults, were at least familiar. They knew the contours of the prison cell and there would be no surprises. They decided it was better to stay put. Some were so preoccupied with their cell phones that they didn’t even notice his arrival or the fact that he’d unlocked the gates.
One woman, clinging tightly to the edges of her fur coat, wanted to follow him but she felt glued in place. She thought, if he’d only reach in and grab me… As she thought this, he looked back at her and spoke to her heart. “I have freed you, I have set the place for you, but you must choose to follow on your own free will. No one wants a lover they have to drag out from behind the bars.”
It required all her might to take one step.
“I wouldn’t go,” said someone standing next to her. “When you get out into that light, you don’t know what you’re going to see-about the world or worse, about yourself.” She saw the prince dancing down the hall, unlocking other prison cells. From some cells, throngs of people rushed forth into the hall. Exuberant. “So what are you going to do?” the stranger next to her prodded.
She wanted to see the joyful prince again, and she wanted to experience the same joy of following him that she saw on the faces of others who chose to follow. She let the fur coat fall to the ground and took a step forward.
Some times after Communion, I see things. This story is from one of those times.
~Sheila LaSalle
lifewithsaints 