E73 - It's A Wonderful Life for Everyone Who Lives in the True Spirit of Christmas

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Christmas season is here and with

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it comes the timeless tradition of

watching classic movies like Miracle

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on 31st Street and The Christmas Story.

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These are films that never fail to

capture the true spirit of the holidays.

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Today's culture has, unfortunately,

just about lost its spirit.

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,

Microphone (AT: 2005

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being on the political climate.

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And.

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Even in our own lives, not really

being thankful for what we have.

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Microphone (2- AT2005USB):

I want resonates with me.

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It's the movie.

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It's a wonderful life.

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the story is about a

character named George Bailey.

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George had dreams of traveling the world.

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These plans didn't go as expected.

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AS George navigates the ups and

downs of life, his trouble multiply.

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A divine intervention occurs.

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To show George the true impact

his life has had on others.

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I want us to look at this movie and

understand how having a wonderful

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life is also a possibility for us all.

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Hello everyone and welcome

back to A Prisoner's Pardon.

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I'm your host, Michi J.

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And today we're going to delve

deep into the heartwarming

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story It's a Wonderful Life.

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The story is about a

character named George Bailey.

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He's played by James Stewart.

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And in the story, it unveils

George's life as a man who once had

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big dreams of traveling the world.

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However, as life often unfolds

for all of us, these plans

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didn't quite go as expected.

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George finds himself tempted to

take an offer that promises to

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free him from his current troubles.

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But something inside him compels him to

stay and face the challenges head on.

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But as George navigates the ups and downs

of life, his trouble seems to multiply.

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Haven't we all seen things like this?

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he faces adversity in his

business and even finds himself

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on the brink of jail time.

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We've all faced adversity in our lives.

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If you haven't, just keep living.

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Well, the weight of all of this becomes so

unbearable for George that the once strong

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George contemplates giving up entirely.

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He begins to drown himself

in harmful behaviors such as

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drinking and he even entertains

the thoughts of ending his own life.

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Whew.

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We've all been there where we

just do not want to face things.

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Things are just too much.

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there was a life changing

encounter for George.

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So when George was at his lowest

point, a divine intervention occurs.

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What happens is an angel

is sent from heaven.

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To show George the true impact

his life has had on others.

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This angel helps him to see

that despite his struggles, his

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life is truly a wonderful one.

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George discovers that he is not

a prisoner of his circumstances,

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but rather a beacon of hope and

inspiration for those around him.

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Let's reflect on George's journey

and let's draw parallels to our own

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lives because we all experience our

own George Bailey moments, times

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when we feel trapped and hopeless.

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But if we shift our perspective,

we can find that our lives too are

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filled with wonder and purpose.

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Microphone (2- AT2005USB)-2:

First off, George lost his father.

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That was a big impact on him because

he was the breadwinner in the house.

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And George had to make some sacrifices.

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That was exactly the time

when he was gonna go and leave

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and just travel the world.

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Instead, he devoted his time to

take over his father's business.

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I think that's what we

should be doing too.

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We should be handling

our father's business.

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If you know what I mean.

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So, all of us have been impacted

with the loss of loved ones.

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Or, just having someone there

that haven't been doing what

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they are supposed to be doing.

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It's one or the other.

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Then, George, he took over the business.

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And he was only going to take over

the business just for a short while

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until his brother gets out of college

and then he was going to take it

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over so George can travel the world.

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That didn't happen either.

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George's brother got married and was

given the prospect of a great job

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through his father in law's company.

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George saw the opportunity for

his brother, so told him that

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he can go ahead and do that.

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, and George sacrificed everything

again so that his brother

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can accomplish a better life.

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Again, a great message do we

sacrifice for our brothers?

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Then George, was tempted to just

leave, but it was a trick from Mr.

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Potter.

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Mr.

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Potter, he was an evil man,

well, a very angry man.

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He wanted to control everything.

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So he wanted to tempt George

with a seemingly lucrative job.

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But if George took it, he would

then expose all the people to Mr.

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Potter's plan to take over everything and

just charge sky high prices, therefore

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trapping the people in impoverishing them

because they would be indebted to him.

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He would, you know.

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Raise all the prices till they

just can't even afford it.

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Sounds familiar?

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George didn't allow it.

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He stayed where he was even

though he wanted to leave and

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he protected his community.

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He took on a selfless job.

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Now, later, through this job,

One of his co workers misplaced

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some money which actually put

him in jeopardy of going to jail.

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At the end, he was facing so much

adversity, so many problems, and

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they come in all at one time.

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It doesn't come one at a time, and

wait for you to get over one.

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It floods in.

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So George was frustrated.

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He was angry.

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He was taking it out on his family.

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He was starting to want to drink.

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And then also, commit suicide

and just end everything.

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But then he had an

intervention, thankfully.

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we all need those types of interventions

from someone sent from heaven.

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It could be a fellow co worker, a

sibling, , a stranger at times, to come

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and give us a good word, to encourage

us, and also just to let us see that.

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It's not as bad as it seems.

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Microphone (2- AT2005USB):

We all can find freedom.

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We here at a prisoner's pardon have

a mission and that is to drive this

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perspective home to all our listeners,

whether they are physically in

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prison or trapped in a spiritual

sense, just as George Bailey was.

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Just as Illinois has Pontiac

and Wisconsin has Dodge

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Correctional as intake facilities.

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We recognize here that there is a

spiritual facility preceding them all.

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so how can we embrace a wonderful life?

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It really starts by being

honest with ourselves.

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Too often people hide their pain,

refusing to admit the struggles,

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acknowledging our vulnerabilities is

the first step towards finding freedom.

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Don't buy into the false statements

you hear about self empowerment

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and I can do it all by myself.

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All that is false.

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If you don't believe it, just look

at the evidence all around you when

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you look closer, it's not true.

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You know why?

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Because we all need someone.

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We all need family.

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Also Don't fall for the

false marketing as well.

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That's happening now during the season.

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It's not immaterial things.

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Marketing.

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That's going on.

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What have you believe that you

can have a wonderful life if

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you go out and buy something?

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This is definitely false marketing.

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I don't know if you've seen it, but have

you seen the media about target having

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black Friday prices when it's actually

the same prices throughout the year?

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Yeah, it was a big media blow

up about that, but that's

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not the only thing they do.

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And this is what a lot of stores do

not just to look at target, they mark

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up prices and then mark them down

and say that they're having a sale.

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A wonderful life is not also

in fake relationships either.

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Fake meaning, it's just about sex or

money or anything else other than two

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people being totally committed for

life to the betterment of the other.

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So is willing to make sacrifices for them.

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Question, do you make

sacrifices for others?

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Or do you do things only for yourselves?

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George Bailey, in the movie, A

Wonderful Life, made sacrifices

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for his wife and his kids.

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He made them for his brother,

his father, and his community.

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He didn't have the most

desirable house, clothes, or job.

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Still, though, he had a wonderful life.

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The angel showed him how, if he

wasn't around to make the sacrifices

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he did, how things would have turned

out for each person he had affected.

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Boy, it makes you wonder how

much we impact people seeing

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this really gave George.

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joy and filled him with the

real spirit of the Christmas

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season we can do the same thing

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God gave us the gift of himself

and we should do likewise by

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giving the gift of ourselves.

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A prisoner's pardon, is all about

freedom to live a wonderful life.

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That's all for today's episode.

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Remember, A wonderful life is

not found in material possessions

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or fake relationships, but lies

in the sacrifices we make for

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others, much like George Bailey.

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So stay true, stay joyous

and have a wonderful life.

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Thank you for listening and may you

have a week filled with blessings.