As I promised … on with the topic of being institutionalized cont……….
I covered an overview of this topic on my last blog please read it if you have not yet and then continue with this one…
We can see how this has and can effect people on the large scale, but how about you individually. How does this kind of mindset show up and not be recognized by the person who’s life is forever altered and unknowing.
Just like V and I when we were young and saw no world outside of our own…we didn’t know we were in a self made box.. until we saw others outside of it !!!
Let me remind you of the meaning:
Definitions :
Institution = Established order, custom, permanent form of law.
Institutionalized = … to accustom a person so firmly to the care of supervised routine of and institution as to make incapable of managing a life outside of it.
Incapable = … lacking necessary ability, capacity, or power. Unable to perform adequately.. make one incompetent !!!
Get it make one incapable..
We absolutely should be able to see after the last blog that of course government and other powerful institutions are in fact very able to begin to take over what we should be doing for ourselves… and how having these institutions solve our problems and do our work for us is easier… But it comes with the hefty price of ..that which you tolerate will dominate you !!! We give up a little bit of ourselves here and there and the next thing you know we forget who we really are… we have morphed into someone we no longer recognize.
As stated earlier the only one that deserves that kind of reliance …. is God Himself…!!! But He will have you change , learn, grow and succeed !!
Hard to watch but makes my point………………….
V and I had a family member that was a good looking, charming (literally charmed the pants off of almost everyone ) man whore !…. my statement was literal !!! He was raised in an environment that nothing had to be RIGHT, it only had to be GOOD ENOUGH and benefit him.
Selfish self absorbed people produce selfish self absorbed people.
When we are moved by what we want to do or do not want to do … instead of doing what is right, we have already set ourselves up to be people who live only for ourselves and self gratification. These people are takers, not givers and their lives will reflect it !!! No good can come out of this mindset.
You need to care more about doing what is right ….CHARACTER…. then what is easy !!!!
As much of a con as this guy was… he was crazy likable and I loved him very much. Maybe because he never did this stuff to me.. One day he came home with this beautiful bike for me.. I was in Jr. High and I had never had my own bike before ( a story in itself … some other time ) so I can’t tell you how excited and appreciative I was to this guy for that. When I asked him where he got it for me the story changed 2 or 3 times… poker game… owed him money… and on. I quit asking jumped on and never cared again. He gave me something free !!! It didn’t cost me anything and I get to keep it. What a great feeling… right ?? I remember that he loved me very much, we would talk about all kinds of things and he would pick up the guitar and sing (very well I might add) and I just loved being around him. He would bring home stuff all the time.. I don’t know why, he was not a giving guy but I think he loved me and loved my appreciation for him and my young adoration that he could get things that I otherwise would never be able to get on my own!!! (sound familiar )
After a few years he moved to So Cal where he was from and things got worse for him. He went from this kind of shuck and jive con behavior to prison within a few years. He was housed in Old Folsom Prison. This was not a joke.. that prison was awful. So here was this person I loved that lived outside of every boundary (in a negative way) never staying still too long now serving years in a hard prison. My heart was sad but I knew his lifestyle caught up with him… so years went by….. and I mean years…. V and I were married had kids and they were in their teens… I get a call from him telling us he is getting out and could we come and pick him up. I haven’t heard from this guy in years and only a few times since he went in but he knew we were in the ministry and asked for us to come. Of course we went to pick him up. It was several hours away and a long trip… I am saying that because once we pick him up it is several hours back in the car with him and all we could do is talk!! When I saw him my heart was sad… this once pleasant faced, handsome man was now a hard faced aged person I could barely recognized !! This is not the same guy… yes he looked similar or an older version and covered with tattoos. (not throwing stones V and I had our share) It wasn’t his physical appearance … it was his soul..he was a broken man !!
We got him in the car and off we went… trying to figure what to talk about… and then out of the blue he started to cry…. what !! He never cried !! He declared something that shocked me… I AM SCARED !! .. My mind was racing.. what of..did you make someone mad in there and they are coming after you… What, what are you scared of???? His reply blew me back….. I don’t know how to live out here !!! I have adapted to live inside but I am scared to death to live out here !!! For all these years I have been told when to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom…on and on. I have not had one independent decision to make in years. To survive I had to learn prison life, mindset, ways, culture and adapt my whole life to it. I don’t know how to think any other way. I don’t know how to make decisions for myself or the process to choose accurately !!! I DON’T THINK I CAN LIVE OUT HERE !!!
My thought was are you serious … I would be afraid of ever going back and you are afraid your not !!!
We spent the whole drive and the next couple of days talking and encouraging him about still being able to have a great future !! But there was this resounding tone of fear.
Over the years I have seen this too many more times..But not just in those who have been in prison.. I have found those who have been incarcerated and imprisoned in their lives while living among us. Either raised in an environment that created it or developed it through the life choices we made as we went. Either way …. bondage is bondage !!!
He was physically out, but his mind was still in prison !!! Like so many people walking around today… so stuck in certain areas of their lives because they are in bondage in their own thoughts and behaviors !!!... He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captive, open prison doors for those who are bound…This is exactly what this is talking about.
There is a God who can deliver you out of this type of prison !!! We told him over and over…but how do you change the mind of a person in a few days when they have had years of it the other way !!! He just couldn’t hear us. He went back to So Cal and within a short time we heard was back in prison. He had purposely gotten caught with a gun so he had to go back !!! It broke my heart !!! I began to study and understand being institutionalized.. and the devastating effects it has on participants!! Over the years I have seen some of the most institutionalized people who have never once seen the inside of a physical prison !! But institutionalized all the same !!! Some things are so intrinsically woven into our thought patterns and behaviors we need someone who is not influenced by it to help point it out !!
Another way I see people deal with this is by personal destruction.. they just choose to die and not even try anymore. There are many kinds of ways a person can die… but the walking dead is hard to watch. I have watched people choose not to break free from things and live within the bondage of their box as it slowly chokes them to death. All hope for a great life, lost… no joy… no peace.. just breathing..not living !!. We see a lot of this in abusive homes but some forms of abuse are never seen!
Jesus said…I have come that you might have life , and life more abundantly !!!
First I want to challenge everyone to check yourself !! Sit down and look at your own life… are you recycling the same failures, lacks, relationships, problems, cultural limitations, family problems…
STOP THE CYCLE… You absolutely can change it all !!! Let me introduce you to the one who can do it !! JESUS !! … renew your mind according to the Word and it will change your life !!! Get in a church that will teach you !!
If you are in the Jacksonville FL area … Have I got a church for you !!! OURS!! www.dominionlifechurch.com
I am tired I started this at 4:00 am and have a huge day !!! Blessings to all I hope this stuff is helping.
