# Digging in the Wrong Direction

- Link: https://dismasfellowshipnetwork.com/reflections/digging-in-the-wrong-direction/
- Published: 2021-06-07T13:25:01-04:00
- Author: Paul Tuck

[⌊A Man Alone in a Prison Cell Digging a Hole in the Ground with his Hands⌉⌊A Man
Alone in a Prison Cell Digging a Hole in the Ground with his Hands⌉[

A Man Alone in a Prison Cell Digging a Hole in the Ground with his Hands

 

**Digging in the Wrong Direction** (Source Unknown)

There’s a man who has been by himself in a prison cell with a dirt floor, crude 
stone walls, and there’s two windows one of which looks out towards the ocean. All
of the sudden, he hears a scratching noise, and he looks down at the ground that
is furthest away from the window facing the ocean. He sees the ground moving, and
he starts to think he’s losing his mind. But soon the ground breaks, and up pops
a head with long hair and a beard… it’s a prisoner.

And the prisoner says “Sssh. Listen. A group of us have been tunneling for about
six years, and we’ve finally reached your cell. We have ways to cover up my entrance
into this, but now it’s all on your shoulders, man. All you have to do,” he said
while pointing out the window towards the ocean, “you just start digging here and
go down about six feet and about 75 feet in that direction and there is freedom,
and we’re outta here!”

“Oh, I love that! That’s great; I want to be free!”

“Okay, I’ll check back with you in a few weeks.”

Two weeks later, the pops back in to check on his friend’s progress, and his friend
nods back with great affirmation. “Yeah, I’ve done it.”

So the man who was providing the instructions pops down the hole, and two seconds
later pops right back up and says, “What have you done?!?!?”

“Huh?”

“I told you to dig in the direction towards the OCEAN! This tunnel that you dug 
goes back under the wall and into the prison yard.”

“Well, the digging was easier in the other direction…”

**Reflection Questions**
 Can you recall when you decided to take a more difficult
direction, and it led you to a better place?  **OR** Does this story relate to any
aspect of your own life?