Prisoners

 Today is St Patricks Day.   Its also the day that Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe gets home after 6 years as a prisoner in Iran.   It's interesting, because Patrick too spent 6 years as a prisoner having been kidnapped by pirates and taken from his well-to-do Roman villa somewhere in Wales ( or possibly England) to Ireland.  There he was kept imprisoned and made to look after animals.  He was only a boy and it must have been terrifying for him.  Nazanin was a mother of a young child who had gone to visit relatives in Iran.  She didnt expect to be in chains for 6 years being used as a political football in a sinister argument over unpaid debts.  Fifteen centuries separate their stories.  But not much separates their experiences.  As Ecclesiastes tells us, there is nothing new under the sun.  

I remember reading ' An Evil Cradling' by Brian Keenan, taken captive by Islamic jihadists in 1985 and held in appalling conditions for five years along with John McCarthy and Terry Waite.  John McCarthy said that .... ' He could hear other people being tortured and was terrified. He had never been particularly religious but — in desperation — dropped to his knees and prayed.

'The next minute I was utterly euphoric. The horrible neon light had turned a soft blue and I thought, ‘Everything’s going to be fine,’ ” he recalls. This “extraordinary moment” marked the beginning of finding “spiritual security”.

Back in the 5th century a 16 year old Patrick described his time as a slave as a humiliating experience, since he was originally a high ranking Roman nobleman. During this time, Patrick felt that he became closer to God and gradually developed his faith as a Christian. Patrick states in his Confession of Grace, “more and more the love of God and fear of Him came to me, and my faith was increased, and my spirit was so moved that in one day I would pray as many as a hundred times…”

We don't yet know what Nazanin experienced during her captivity but we do know from reports from her husband over the years that she has had times of incredibly poor mental and physical health. I'm pretty sure she will have prayed. People do pray when they are in that sort of situation. People who don't believe in God pray. People who don't believe in prayer, pray. We seem to be hard wired to reach out of ourselves when we have come to the very end of ourselves and hope that someone bigger is listening. And of course He is listening. 

We have all been captives at some point.  Many of us are still struggling to step out of our chains and walk out of those prison cells.  But the One who sets captives free is listening to us when we cry.  He is breaking iron bars and exchanging prisoners for our release (Is 45;2  Ps 107;16   Is 43;4)  He holds the keys.  He sets before us an open door.  We are ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven.    Today Nazanin will truly know what it means to be free and she will be celebrating.  Patrick knew what it meant to be free and he was galvanised to free others.  What is your response to being free?