Set me free from my prison that I might praise your name: CANCER AWARENESS MONTH.

/ Yinka (Anthonia) Gansallo-Lawrence

A young vibrant guy who conducted an interview with me on Cancer Awareness stepped back, arms bigger than cancerakimbo, with an exaggerated comical look and blotted out “No Way Ma! ah,’You are too young and fine to have cancer! How can? Oh please be serious! – Oh yes! I smiled back at him. “Forget the stage make up, the girlish attitude and the glamorous accessories you see, “Yeah! ‘This girl is a survivor” and for the next 5 minutes, everything became still and silent, we became deep in thoughts, hands clutched together like a praying mantis as he began praising God.20141018_104043

October is national breast cancer awareness month. It is one of those months that challenges me to sit up and be proactive in the campaign for raising awareness about the importance of early detection and treatment. Not necessarily because I am a cancer survivor, but more so, it is a season for me to reflect on the peaceful acceptance of finally stepping away from my confinement.

When we hear the word “PRISON or CONFINEMENT”, many times we get cold feet, we tremble and begin to panic. Our imagination begins to run wild and far, flashes of hardened looking incarcerated criminals in jumpsuits, locked up behind metal bars, dangling and clanging of handcuffs, organized and monitored scheduled visits with restrictions as prison security officers stand by with un-assuming looks tough enough to crush a wandering cockroach! But, that’s just the physical aspect of the lockup, and with time upon release or admonishment life goes on.

But really, our emotional state of mind (feelings) is actually one of the most dangerous and poisonous prison we have created for ourselves, without even knowing. It is our man-made confinement. An habitual lockup. A casual second skin jail. A renowned penitentiary that usually needs no administrative admittance. We casually stroll in and out of it without realizing it or knowing the damages it’s capable of. Hmmm.can 3

There are many emotions that cause us to slump and become crippled emotionally. Worry wears us down. Regret ruins our confidence. Hatred hardens our hearts. Unforgiveness stains our souls. Bitterness binds our hearts. Insecurity incapacitates our capabilities.

Not knowing what our God-given purpose is or suppressing our enthusiasm or pessimism is a form of imprisonment. It is not only when we are locked up or detained physically. Being blessed with a story and not using it wisely for its purpose, is an emotional confinement. Not creating or maintaining a desired platform is a jail term. Our conscience becomes the court of law that requires no physical judge.

Are you crippled emotionally today? Do words from your past tell you “not good enough,” Procrastination and inadequacy were my two close companions. I didn’t like these two lurking shadows, but they followed me everywhere I went. Stalkers, that’s what they were. They stalked me, yelling taunts and accusations that no one heard but me. The more I listened to them, the more emotionally crippled I became. Until I re-branded my passion by turning my pain into someone’s gain. walk instead

Are we aware that there is a message for us all during our time of confinement? To be able to declare God’s goodness in our lives. That we are indeed a living testimony irrespective of our past, our shame or our dirt!

As you are reading this today, Ask yourself, what is my prison? Is there something in my life that is crippling my spirit? Pain? Unforgiveness? Bitterness? Resentment? Guilt? Sorrow? Worry? Regret? Comparison? If so, let’s cut it loose with the saber of praise, cast it off, and throw it away. God calls us sheep; and sheep are not pack animals. We are not meant to carry such burdens with these scrawny legs of ours. If we try, we will only bend under the pressure we were never meant to bear.woman

Get out of your confinement and join me this weekend, as we prepare for the annual MAKING STRIDES FOR CANCER AWARENESS 4k WALK ON Saturday, October 17TH @ 7:30AM, right in front of the PLEASE TOUCH MUSEUM, MEMORIAL HALL, in PHILADELPHIA PA. No more slumping in self-doubt or hunching in half-hearted conviction. But rather LET’S stand up to the full stature of a confident being, equipped by God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and enveloped in Christ.

Yours in HOPE as I share Mary Mary ” Shackles”.

Yinka.

“Set me free from my prison that I might praise your name’ (Psalm 142:7a NIV).

 

9 thoughts on “Set me free from my prison that I might praise your name: CANCER AWARENESS MONTH.”

  1. Yinka, you just explained it with a rich description of such interesting enchantment like an entertaining narrative of an experienced wordsmith: fear imprisons the soul through the mind that is ignorant of the possible God of all possibilities. Good prose! How is post visit to Lagos?

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  2. Wow, Yinka, thank you for sharing this. Indeed our pain in the right perspective can be turned around to bring strength to someone walking a similar path. God bless you!

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  6. I remember years ago in a Philosophy class taught by the renowned professor of Philosophy Sophie Oluwole at Unilag, I was asked to define the human mind in a great big hall packed with students from different departments and I had not been paying any mind to the class. She said “define the mind and do not define it as physical or tangible, because it is not”, So I blotted out what I thought at the time was the dumbest sentence of my entire stay at Unilag because she immediately with disgust on her face said “sit down” and went on to say “that is the most useful piece out of the heap of all the rubbish I have heard all day”. Now why perambulate so much? The mind is and will continue to be the most mysterious entity of God’s creations. It is so deep and shallow at the same time because you are only privy to what its owner wants you to know, it can be very beautiful like that of John Nash, yet as diabolical as that of Adolph Hitler, it can convict and convince at the same time and yes, it can imprison if and only “if” it is allowed to. As the song says “Free your mind and the rest will follow”, let’s also be weary of what we free our minds to. Let your mind be pure and truthful as the good book also says “and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. Many are burdened these days with all kinds of thoughts that have imprisoned them and killed their God-given ability to be expressive because of one situation or the other, well I have good news for you, you and only “you’ have the utmost ability to make the demands on yourself to be free of burdens that weigh you down needlessly, tell you why- you need to think out of the box (mind) look around you, enlighten yourself and see the plight of others that are in a worse situation than yours, yet still thriving not just surviving, yes, I said it! To all those out there that are “cancer survivors” (my beautiful wife included) I dare to coin a new word today “Thrivivore”. You have all survived and are now beautifully thriving, let’s get together this Saturday and let the whole world know it and that those that this horrible disease has taken away are not forgotten, we will continue to walk and work and my belief is that for every day we walk and talk about eradicating cancer, it is another day we are closer to doing so. There is power is numbers of people with like minds hoping and believing that there is a cure out there and we will continue to comfort those that have been bereaved or are still going through the harrowing experience of this dreaded disease and those often forgotten caregivers who bear this burden with their loved ones. Tall my “Thrivivors” out there and all their supporters-

    God’s Peace.

    Kaylaw.

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