My Chains are Gone?

"We don't know each other any more.  An astonishing story." (a couple of Mike Barnicle's comments on  Morning Joe MS NBC 5/8/13)

These words were spoken in relation to the news story about three women kidnapped in 2002...and only now, in 2013, one escaped to draw attention to the rest in Cleveland, OH--some report that they had been chained by the waist, living in the basement of a house by three brothers for all this time. 

We are completely amazed how this could have happened in twenty-first century, United States of America.  The Land of the free, the Home of the brave.  Some are saying that police have been led to this house at various times throughout the years, but no action was taken.  How could this happen to young women, not little girls, young women, without someone noticing? 

I do not have any idea how it happened, and I'm pretty sure that there are details of this incident that we will never know. 

My questions range From:   how could three brothers do such a thing?  How could three young women 'stay'...did they even have a choice?  And, where were the police investigators-- the women were reported missing--at what point did the search for them stop?  Is it possible that no one saw anything, at all?

To questions along the lines of:  Could this kind of thing be happening in my town, in my neighborhood?  Or, in yours? 

We live in a generation where no one wants to get involved.  And do we, in this 21st century, really  want to get to know each other?  The next time you are in a busy public place just look around.  People are enamored, I might go so far to say obsessed, with their cell phones--no time for face to face conversation--there must be a screen involved...(think skype, snap-chat, etc.)  

On the other hand, we have information from around the world at our finger-tips through the technology of those phones.  As a matter of fact, I have downloaded an app that makes  my phone buzz to alert me of 'breaking news.'  (the DOW hit 15,000 yesterday, for example) 

And yet, our society remains uninformed...uninvolved and seemingly very lonely.  It was with great shock and awe that I listened recently to a group of students arriving for their class time with loud and rude comments and gestures--the class was called Interpersonal Relationships...really. 

I think of these three recently 'freed' women --free to live a life with out being chained by the waist.  Certainly in bondage.  But at the very same time, those students are in a form of bondage to an image they are trying to live up to--struggling to be accepted by their peers with their actions and words--only to make themselves and those around them more miserable.

We can be in bondage to our jobs, our addictions, our friends, our debt, our passions and/or our______(fill in the blank).  Indeed....just about anything that captivates us to the point that we can think of little else.  Indeed, we do not have to be chained by the waist in a stranger's basement to live in bondage and slavery, do we?  We can walk around as 'free people' and yet live in bondage.

One Sabbath, Jesus, while standing in the synagogue in Nazareth, read these words once written by the ancient prophet, Isaiah (61:1,2)

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (my emphasis)

Then he rolled up the scroll and simply sat down...with all eyes "fastened on him"...he began to teach them by saying, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (This account and Jesus' teaching that got him driven out of Nazareth are found in Luke 4:14-30)

The reason I write His words here is to share with you that the prophecy has truly been fulfilled!  There is a way out of bondage...we do not have to live as slaves...or captives...our chains can truly be gone, just like these three young women who's pictures we see on the news this morning. 

I once heard Sheila Walsh (Women of Faith Speaker) say, "Freedom is not the absence of bars, it is the Presence of God."  There is truth there.  Pursue Truth.  Pursue Freedom, through a personal relationship with God....freedom; recovery; release...the Lord's favor!  The message of hope--to a lonely generation...