Yesterday, I took a 1-hour training course given by a civilian instructor on how to be a "sighted guide"...
In other words, how to help and escort someone who is blind. For in the cellblock where I live, there are some visually impaired prisoners.
I know that working with those who have this handicap is going to be a personal challenge for me. But hopefully I will be able to take one of them to the chapel services
once in a while.
It's a long walk from the cellblock to the chapel, as these two places are at opposite ends of the facility. I will have to help a blind man navigate through the hallways and corridors, and through the crowds of other prisoners who are moving about.
In addition, today I was able to sit down and talk to another prisoner, a 42-year-old man whose doing time for robbery and drug possession. He is not one of the blind or hearing-impaired men, but he lives in my housing unit, D-North.
We had an interesting talk about Jesus Christ. Like most of the men here, he's very familiar with my criminal past. So he asked me some questions, and I was thus able to give him a little of my testimony.
But I was surprised when he told me that his mother is a long since retired New York City police officer who was on the force for twenty-seven years. I couldn't help but think of the irony here. He's a "career criminal," who in his own words, spent much of his adult life in and out of prison. His mom was a cop.
As I have so often observed, being in prison for a quarter-century, it doesn’t matter if one comes from a good home or a bad one, sin is sin. The Bible explains that we've all been born with a sin nature and an innate propensity to do bad and to break God's holy laws. Anyone from any background is capable of committing a crime. And this is why, I believe, my inmate neighbors consist of not only men who've come from the ghettoes of poverty, but also doctors, lawyers and police officers. Satan is no respecter of persons. He's out to destroy anyone he can. Rich or poor, black or white, prisons contain men and women from all walks of life.
Everyone needs to repent of his or her own sins. We all need to place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Every human being who has ever lived needs His forgiveness. There is no person who is righteous in himself, not even one (Romans 3:10).
D. B.
I know that working with those who have this handicap is going to be a personal challenge for me. But hopefully I will be able to take one of them to the chapel services
once in a while.
It's a long walk from the cellblock to the chapel, as these two places are at opposite ends of the facility. I will have to help a blind man navigate through the hallways and corridors, and through the crowds of other prisoners who are moving about.
In addition, today I was able to sit down and talk to another prisoner, a 42-year-old man whose doing time for robbery and drug possession. He is not one of the blind or hearing-impaired men, but he lives in my housing unit, D-North.
We had an interesting talk about Jesus Christ. Like most of the men here, he's very familiar with my criminal past. So he asked me some questions, and I was thus able to give him a little of my testimony.
But I was surprised when he told me that his mother is a long since retired New York City police officer who was on the force for twenty-seven years. I couldn't help but think of the irony here. He's a "career criminal," who in his own words, spent much of his adult life in and out of prison. His mom was a cop.
As I have so often observed, being in prison for a quarter-century, it doesn’t matter if one comes from a good home or a bad one, sin is sin. The Bible explains that we've all been born with a sin nature and an innate propensity to do bad and to break God's holy laws. Anyone from any background is capable of committing a crime. And this is why, I believe, my inmate neighbors consist of not only men who've come from the ghettoes of poverty, but also doctors, lawyers and police officers. Satan is no respecter of persons. He's out to destroy anyone he can. Rich or poor, black or white, prisons contain men and women from all walks of life.
Everyone needs to repent of his or her own sins. We all need to place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Every human being who has ever lived needs His forgiveness. There is no person who is righteous in himself, not even one (Romans 3:10).
D. B.