Two Scottish men served in WW I together, a professor and a chaplain. During the fighting they were captured and sent to a prison camp that housed American and British soldiers. The professor was put on the American side, and the chaplain in with the Brits.

Between the two camps was a high wire fence that allowed the professor and chaplain to communicate with each other and keep up with news. They would casually walk alongside the barrier and talk together in Gaelic, a language the German guards did not understand.

Unknown to the Germans, the Americans had a little homemade radio they could listen to and hear news from the outside world. Whatever the professor learned from listening to this radio with the Americans, he would share with his chaplain friend on the other side of the fence.

One day, news came in that the German high command had surrendered and the war was over. The professor raced to the fence to tell the chaplain. The chaplain immediately disappeared into the barracks to tell his comrades. Suddenly a huge roar of celebration erupted within the housing complex. The Brits came out dancing and singing, waving at the guards, and full of glee and joy. They knew it was only a matter of time before they were set free.

Three nights later, the German guards heard the news. In the dark, they fled camp and left the gates unlocked behind them. The next morning the Brits and Americans walked out free.

I learn many lessons from studying this story.

For one, even though we may not be locked up in a prison-of-war-camp, there might be another type of detention center we feel entrapped by. The prison-house of mortality, with its confinement cells of disease, sin, fear of death or lack, seem real and threatening to many people. But the good news of Christian Science has come over the airwaves of divine Mind. And the message is, God made us free!

We are not prisoners of mortality. We are not under the thumb of mortal mind. As children of the Most HIgh, we are immortal, under the government of God.

In the spirit of Independence Day, which is being celebrated today in the United States, let each of us declare our independence from mortality.

Whether you feel like you’re being held in solitary confinement by error of some kind, or have hope of imminent freedom but are still dancing in the prison yard waiting for the gates to swing open, it’s time to embrace the truth of your being. You are not a captured mortal. You are a free immortal!

True being is never stuck in matter, bound by physicality, sensuality or at the mercy of disease. We are immortal, living in the boundless freedom of divine Mind.

We do not live in a matter-confine, even if it seems like it to material sense. We live in a universe of Mind where there are no limits, no physical boundaries or constraining beliefs. In divine Mind, there is no prison, no prison walls, and no locked gates.

We don’t have to wait for the gates to swing open before we can walk out free. They are already open. We’re already free!

The wide-open expanse of Truth beckons, “Come on in. The universe of unending goodness is yours to experience.”

Celebrate your freedom in Spirit today.

Declare your independence from matter.

Know your immortality.

The prison of mortal mind belief is no prison at all. It’s illusion.

You live in the allness of Good.

You are free!

Happy day…