I sometimes wonder what Sergei was thinking the
night he chose to leave his country.
When he looked at the surface of that cold, dark water he didn’t know
the dangers hidden underneath the waves.
But he chose to make that leap anyway.
“Numb with
cold, I sized up the situation the best my tortured mind would allow. I decided I would rather die trying to find
real life than continue to live as I had been living. I would not—could not—return to the life I
had known. Even if I drowned I must not
go back.”
-Sergei Kourdakov, The
Persecutor (Chapter 2, pg. 19)
We make choices each and every day. Starting from a very young age we are encouraged
to make decisions for ourselves—from the clothes we wear, who we choose to be our
friends, to what we want to eat. Compared
to what Sergei faced, most of our choices are easy and somewhat inconsequential. Sergei’s choices were for survival . . . I have
no food, therefore I need to steal or beg for it. I have no parents, therefore I must learn to take
care of myself.
Sergei made a choice for a new beginning and a
new life. His leap of faith into the
ocean was a difficult and life-changing moment. Once he made that choice he looked forward, he
didn’t look back.
He chose freedom.
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