"Why do we keep hiding our deepest feelings from each other? We suffer much, but we also have great gifts of healing for each other. The mystery is that by hiding our pain we also hide our ability to heal. . . . We are called to confess to each other and forgive each other, and thus to discover the abundant mercy of God. But at the same time, we are so terribly afraid of being hurt more than we already are. This fear keeps us prisoners, even when the prison has no walls! I see better every day how radical Jesus’ message of love really is." (Henri Nouwen)

Is it true that I am hiding in my own prison? Is it true that I am in this prison because I am afraid of being hurt again? Does Jesus wish me to stay in my self-imposed prison or has he come to set me free? I remember when I was younger I experienced this self-isolation, trying to protect myself. Instead, I was harming myself by holding at a distance from what I really needed and wanted. Love and acceptance. It was only by God's grace that I realized that my isolation was self-imposed. God was calling me out from the darkness into the light of his love. But I had to choose to open the door of my prison and step out into the light or not. Was I hurt again? Yes. But living in the light enabled me to deal with the hurt with forgiveness and move on. True life in Christ is lived in the light not in the dark.