I was listening to a news program on MPR radio when a report came on about prisoners who have the AIDS virus…
This report went on to say that, presently, about 7,100 New York State inmates out of a population of approximately 65,000 men and women, are HIV positive.
While a majority of these inmates are not considered to be sick (yet), as they're not showing any symptoms, the fact is that they're carrying the virus. To me this is akin to living under the sentence of death. I see their lives as examples of how people have been damaged and devastated by sin. Their bad choices in life have cursed them, leaving them infected with a virus which has no cure. Most of these HIV positive prisoners will eventually die from AIDS.
For those who have not as of yet begun to get the various opportunistic infections and disorders from a weakened immune system, their systems will not be able to hold off the virus forever. Some of these men and women will die while incarcerated. Others will eventually get out and return to their old haunts and habits. Many of them will rejoin the ranks of the homeless. They will find their way to city shelters or halfway houses, or they will simply settle for living in the streets, sleeping in parks or under bridges, etc. I do not see them as having much of a future. Already having been infected by the AIDS virus, having a criminal record, what are the chances for any of them going on to lead healthy, satisfying and productive lives upon release?
Being a Christian, I see the prison that I'm confined to as a wide-open mission field. These men have been so self-destructive. For the most part they've ruined their lives, and they know it. Regret has been a constant tormenting demon for them. And while many may have no interest in changing, many more truly do want a new life. They're tired and burned out from living lives of crime and addiction. Many have lost everything good they once had, like wives, children, and jobs.
Yet, it is in this kind of environment that men are more open and hungry for spiritual solutions to their bondages. So it is here where I must work, holding out the gospel of hope. I do not see my being in prison as a waste. Today I see it as a blessed opportunity to share words of hope, to what Christ has called me to do, to spread His love where there is so much hatred. Like Saint Francis of Assisi, God has shown me how to bring good things where bad seems to dominate. Where there is sadness, I can bring joy. I can do my part to spread the spirit of forgiveness. I seek to comfort others the way God has already comforted me.
D.B.
While a majority of these inmates are not considered to be sick (yet), as they're not showing any symptoms, the fact is that they're carrying the virus. To me this is akin to living under the sentence of death. I see their lives as examples of how people have been damaged and devastated by sin. Their bad choices in life have cursed them, leaving them infected with a virus which has no cure. Most of these HIV positive prisoners will eventually die from AIDS.
For those who have not as of yet begun to get the various opportunistic infections and disorders from a weakened immune system, their systems will not be able to hold off the virus forever. Some of these men and women will die while incarcerated. Others will eventually get out and return to their old haunts and habits. Many of them will rejoin the ranks of the homeless. They will find their way to city shelters or halfway houses, or they will simply settle for living in the streets, sleeping in parks or under bridges, etc. I do not see them as having much of a future. Already having been infected by the AIDS virus, having a criminal record, what are the chances for any of them going on to lead healthy, satisfying and productive lives upon release?
Being a Christian, I see the prison that I'm confined to as a wide-open mission field. These men have been so self-destructive. For the most part they've ruined their lives, and they know it. Regret has been a constant tormenting demon for them. And while many may have no interest in changing, many more truly do want a new life. They're tired and burned out from living lives of crime and addiction. Many have lost everything good they once had, like wives, children, and jobs.
Yet, it is in this kind of environment that men are more open and hungry for spiritual solutions to their bondages. So it is here where I must work, holding out the gospel of hope. I do not see my being in prison as a waste. Today I see it as a blessed opportunity to share words of hope, to what Christ has called me to do, to spread His love where there is so much hatred. Like Saint Francis of Assisi, God has shown me how to bring good things where bad seems to dominate. Where there is sadness, I can bring joy. I can do my part to spread the spirit of forgiveness. I seek to comfort others the way God has already comforted me.
D.B.