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The term resistance is a highly charged word for any prisoner. We are reminded daily by authority figures that to resist our situation is pretty pointless. As the famous line from Star Trek: The Next Generation goes, “Resistance is futile.” We know that authority can abuse power, but for the most part the struggle against our incarceration really does make our lives worse.

A better way to cope is to stop resisting, let go, and allow experience to teach us. That’s a valuable spiritual lesson, too. Many of us fight so hard, not against injustice as we should, but against the things that life presents to us that we do not want. To resist and struggle constantly about everything unpleasant in life diverts our attention from the deeper lessons that the spirit yearns to learn. There is a time to resist and a time to surrender. Without both, change and growth is impossible.

by Jennifer, CLF member incarcerated in Texas