One of my favorite movies of all time is The Shawshank Redemption. It is the story of Andy Dufresne, a successful banker who is wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and is sent to the notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison. The tagline of this movie is Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free.
One scene in the movie has repeatedly crossed my mind over the past year. It is the scene involving Brooks, a long time resident of the prison who has been paroled and is seeking to live his life outside the walls of Shawshank. He writes:
Dear fellas, I can’t believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid but now they are everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called “The Brewer” and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. Its hard work and I try to keep up but my hands hurt most of the time. I don’t think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is that he is okay and making new friends. I have trouble sleeping at night; I have bad dreams like I’m falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway so they would send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I doubt they will kick up any fuss, not for an old crook like me.
As his voice narrates the above letter, he carves Brooks was here into the wooden beam stretching across his room. Then, he kicks the table out from beneath his feet and hangs himself.
In the movie they referred to Brooks as being institutionalized. Red, one of the prisoners, stated that Brooks has been in here fifty years, this is all he knows. In here he is an important man, he is an educated man; but on the outside he is nothing. He is just a used up con with arthritis in both hands.
Upon his release, Red would have similar thoughts. His were voiced as follows: There is a harsh truth to face. There is no way I’m going to make it on the outside. All I do anymore is try to think of ways to break my parole. It is a terrible thing to live in fear. Brooks knew it; knew it all too well. All I want is to be back where things make sense, where I won’t have to be afraid all the time.
Doesn’t this sound a lot like the Israelites after they were freed from Egyptian bondage? They had become institutionalized in that their bondage had become their comfort and security.
As I have been studying through the book Free in Christ I have been challenged by the author’s words, and have found there to be great truth in much of what he says. I have also discovered myself at times longing for the comforts of bondage, rather than accepting the freedom offered in Christ. Isn’t it interesting how that over time even the walls of bondage can begin to feel safe and secure rather than restrictive?
Have you ever experienced feelings similar to those expressed above?
Posted by chrisclouse 
Posted by chrisclouse 
