Spiritual Survival Guide
1: Starting Well: Surviving Spiritually on the Inside
submission—to authority. God has a plan for your life, but so does the devil. If you try to break the system, I’m here to tell you that the system will not be broken any more than it is. The fact that the system exists ought to tell you that it’s not going away. You should do your absolute best to get through this process without adding more time to your sentence. Most of you will run the re-runs of your life. The what-ifs, I-shoul- da’s, if-onlys … My suggestion to you is to focus on the future. It is where you are headed. Going into it with grief, sadness, anger or fear will not be productive for you. “There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.” “Perfect love casts out fear.” Soon you will become an expert on your own situation. Entering in with knowledge, under- standing and wisdom will go far in your ability to adapt to your new surroundings. Rest in the knowledge that you will survive and be stronger because of it. The statement of dedication of the Administration Building of Stateville Correctional Center by Rodney H. Brandon, Director of the Department of Public Welfare in 1932, was this: Let those who control the lives of the men who enter here ever bear in mind that the path to better things lies upward always and is steep and that God’s choicest blessings come to him who helps the weary climber. You are the weary climber. You will make it to the top if you accept some help along the way. There will be staff who will help you. They are in for God’s choicest blessings; you should speak and pray those blessings on them as you go along on your steep climb.
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