The song "Surrender", which is the title track to an award-winning collection of inspirational music, was inspired by what Kitty Cleveland learned from her own grief and suffering when her father was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for RICO violations. Kitty's father was not only an man, but also a devoted husband, father, and Catholic deacon facing a 10-year federal prison sentence. Since the World Trade Center tragedy, this song has taken on an even deeper poignancy."How could God let this happen? Why has he forsaken me?" she heard her father cry out. His cries echoed in her own broken heart. They were the very words of Christ on the cross. These universal questions, which have been written into the lyrics, are eventually asked by all human beings when suffering comes into their lives. As a result, the song "Surrender" is touching many hearts, even though the circumstances may vary widely.
What Kitty discovered, along with her father (and St. Paul before him, see 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10), was that it is in our weakness that the power of God is perfected in us. "I lost my pride and found you're all I need/ You rescued me, felt your love in my surrender/ I reached my greatest height down on my knees," she sings in the refrain.
Kitty's father appealed his convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court. They historically receive over 80,000 applications a year and accept fewer than 1% for hearing. Miraculously, Kitty's father was one of those accepted. He was immediately released, after almost 27 months of wrongful imprisonment.
Two weeks after he came home, Kitty sang "Surrender" for her father for the first time as she debuted her CD on EWTN's "Life on the Rock". She realized in that moment, as her dreams for both her father's return home and a Christian music career were being realized, that "Surrender" was for her, too. God, she came to understand, was calling each of us to total abandonment to his divine will and providence, to come to him "on our knees.".
Kitty writes, "The song I wrote for my dad has the theme of surrendering our wills to God's, trusting in his merciful love, and that the lure of worldly success and human respect are illusions. True success comes in recognizing our total dependence on God for everything that is good, and that in our weakness, our suffering, our brokenness, the power of God is perfected in us."
On Election Day, 2000, before the U.S. Supreme Court became embroiled in ballot counting, they unanimously reversed all of the convictions that were presented to them for consideration. Though two counts did not involve constitutional issues, and therefore could not be presented for consideration on appeal, he opted to surrender his right to a new trial and to damages for wrongful prosecution when it became clear that the federal government would continue to seek a "win" if he did otherwise. Though it wasn't complete justice, he is now a free man, stronger in faith and wisdom for his suffering and perseverance.