Shackles around my ankles and my wrist. Iron bars on my windows and my doors. I made some mistakes now I am paying for them. My freedom was taken from me because they say I did not listen to the rules of society. I was born with a boot on my neck,  the only chance I was given I took it. Now what I am looking at doesn't phase me. They can't take away what drives me. I have a place that I live but they cannot see. I have memories of what I have accomplished. I see the cost but I have gained more than I have lost. I was born under the sign of oppression but I have learned their lessons. My family is what is important to me. That is why I have to make this dark journey. Every time I get discouraged, I simply withdraw into myself and I find new courage. They want me to despair, they took away the key to the door and they do not care. All I am to them is a number, my life they think it is theirs to plunder. I will not be denied my place. They sit in judgment but I write my own fate. I was given no choice, but with what I have gained my family and future now have a voice. I lifted myself out of poverty and became the man that I had to be. One day this nightmare will be over, then I will crossover to the other side. I will live life again but on  my terms. Until then I will keep going on this journey, I will hold fast to the dreams I keep hidden in me. I will live through the freedom that I keep inside of me.

I once thought I knew what love ought to be. It was between two people, just you and me. Then I was shown something miraculous, someone who paid a cost. Someone who didn't have to give all to come and save that which was lost. When my eyes were truly open and I saw what God Son did, I knew that there was a new type of love, that I had never seen before. He left all that he held dear to do the father's will. Though he still Bears the scars, he loves me still. For with love he gave his life that I might be redeemed. He showed me a new type of love, one that I had never seen.

When your heart has been shattered and your life is torn apart. when all that you thought you knew is proven wrong. When Love Has abandon you and you are rent into and with tearful eyes ask why, there is a place that you can go. The door is always open and someone will always hear. You do not have to be chosen because God loves us all just the same. Simply give him what is broken and call out to his name. He will take your tattered pieces and bind them each with love. He has a place for those that are broken reserved in his kingdom above.

Once there was freedom then there was none. The ability to exchange ideas has been replaced with intolerance. Rhetoric is hyper charged and vitriol is all that is left. You can not even peacefully espouse your ideas because you might strike a nerve. Political correctness has changed peaceful dialogue into fearful words if some one does not agree with your ideas. So silence everyone but my point of view. Then violence is the response if you disagree with me. When did civil discourse become so convoluted, what is hate speech anyway?

My job isn't going the way I planned so I have a drink. I got in a big fight with my wife so I have a drink. My kids are having problems at school so I have a drink. I got behind on my bills so I have a drink. My family keeps telling me all their problems so I have a drink. I then turn and look down into the bottle, and it sits empty. I'm forced to face the morning sober and my life really stinks. All the answers that I had are gone, and now I'm just left to think. Did drinking really solve anything, I'm not sure that it really did. Though when I wasn't sober, the alcohol kept my problems hidden. So now I have decision to make, do I face my life on my own or do I buy another bottle full of answers?

Try as you might, some people will not change. The Heart Wants What It Wants and will not be dissuaded. Regardless of how wrong it may seem to those from the outside, love can be a hopeless campaign. It may take years to accomplish a single thing. It may be a whirlwind romance or love at first sight. Love may be young and old or it may cross class lines. Sometimes love must be worked for, it may take years to earn. Sometimes it's giving freely and turns out not to be worth the effort. Whatever love turns out to be, it is different for each heart. It can bring two people together or It can completely tear them apart. Sometimes love is just an impossibility, and illusion we fight for but can never really achieve.

Take all the wealth from everyone that has it and give it all to the poor. Change government officials every four years regardless of if they want to leave or not. Assign everyone a job based upon their abilities. Give everyone an equal chance. Train everyone to go to college, so no one is left out. Make every home the same size and dictate that no one can have more children than another. Set retirement for everyone to be the same if they want it or not. See that the bureaucracy works like clockwork and that no one gets left out. Let's give liberalism a try, I'm sure it will work out just fine.