Transcript
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[Music]
Many years ago in Russia there was a
Mhammed. He was a very his name was
Rebelzar. Rebelazzar was a devoted
mechanic and he risked life and limb to
be able to teach Tyra to children. They
loved him but there was great risk
involved. And one day a terrible thing
happened. The authorities came and they
whisked him away. The trial was in a
kangaroo court. The charges were given
and the punishment was given
immediately. 18 months solitary
confinement. This punishment of 18
months in any prison is a terrible
punishment. In a Siberian gulag, it's an
unspeakable punishment. But in solitary
confinement, that's the place where
there's no return. And it was very very
tragic. But 18 months later like a lion
he emerged. Really got his aliyah. He
bent and he continued to teach. And they
said, "How'd you do it? How did you
survive? How did you maintain your
sanity in solitary confinement?" And
this is what he said. They gave me a
tiny little box of a cell maybe 9 ft by
9 ft. Nothing. They kept me there 23
hours and 45 minutes a day. They allowed
me 15 minutes in the yard. After 15
minutes, they would call me in. But I
said, "They will not dictate who I am
and what I become. They will not tell me
where to go and what to do." How so?
Well, in the cell, there was one tile
that I said to myself, "This I won't
step on. This tile I refuse to allow
myself to go there because now I'm a
free man. I'm free to choose whether I
want to step here or there. Imagine 9 ft
by 9 ft. You have nowhere to move,
nowhere to walk, but one tile I refused
to stand on. When they sent me out to
the yard, I had 15 minutes. I did not
stay out for 15 minutes. After 14
minutes and 30 seconds, I chose to go
back inside because they would not
dictate what I should do and where I
should move. And that's how I stayed
sane because I knew that I was always a
free man. Free to choose. Free to decide
where I step, where I go, and where we
look. Because we too are sometimes
imprisoned, trapped by the Yates Sahara,
forced to look at certain things. It
would seem the temptation is so strong.
But when we decide on our own, we will
determine where we look. We will
determine what we see. Then and only
then are we truly free. Then no matter
what else is going on in your life and
everyone has something, we are a boss
over that. We are truly free and we will
be able to overcome and withstand
anything in our lives.
[Music]
