I read,
“Whatever prison you find yourself in,
Jesus Christ has the key”
and I prayed to Jesus
to help me to escape
from my own personal prison.

I felt Jesus say to me,
“Claire,
of course I’ll help you
to leave your prison
but don’t expect me
to simply wave a magic wand
and make your problems disappear.

“I’ll send friends to help you.
I’ll send you the tools that you need.
This won’t be instant;
you’ll be in for the long haul
but I’ll be with you
at all times
helping you.

“Of course I will help you
to unlock the door
but ultimately
only you can decide
that you are ready
to walk through it.”

© Claire Murray

(Inspired by Charlie Brown, writing in “Why I am Still a Catholic”, edited by Peter Stanford)