January 13, 2012
I found this post saved in the drafts. I wrote it back on August 20, 2012. Somehow, it was overlooked and didn’t get posted. As I read over it, I noticed that this writing is totally from a prison perspective. I have nothing against MP3 players. As a matter of fact, I LOVE my MP3 player. It’s full of worship music and used every day! But I just didn’t understand them in prison.
Being on the budget that most of us were on, it just wasn’t rational to spend $80 on a player and $1-3 a song. And that was where my thinking was when I wrote this blog.
August 20, 2012
So the hottest thing in the federal prisons right now are the MP3 players that came out a few weeks ago. I personally think they are a waste of money, but maybe if I had a few years left I might invest in one.
What I have noticed is the big deal these things are made out to be. All day long I hear women talking about how many songs they’ve bought, how many songs are in their basket, and all the songs they can’t find.
But what I have been noticing even more is how these things have been turned into something that gives you “status.” Ladies are comparing themselves to others because of how many songs they have or what kind of music they bought.
I heard one girl tell another that she was a disgrace to the Latin race because she bought Hip Hop music. Another put someone down saying “Why don’t you go listen to your 12 songs…” Like her worth came from the number of songs.
As if we don’t have enough insecurities as women… now your worth is greater because of how many songs you have? It doesn’t make sense to me.
But I guess in a place where we all dress the same and nobody has anything special unless it’s contraband, something as simple as an MP3 player gives you the status that wearing name brand clothes gave us at home.
When I think of all the money I wasted on clothes and shoes, it just blows my mind! After all, where is that stuff? It won’t even fit anymore!
“But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8)
The very things I thought gave me status and worth really contributed to my downfall. Always wanting more, spending money as it came in. And there is nothing to show for it.
But Praise God I can just call it all a loss. None of it was ever mine in the first place. And everything I still have today is a gift from God. I am blessed to have what I do!
And I will never forget that my worth comes only from God. As I go back to society and have to deal with real life temptations again, I pray that I will always seek God to validate who I am. Never the things of this world.
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