But you, O man of God...
Fight the good fight of faith...
1 Timothy 6:11-12
I remain very busy working in the chapel and answering mail correspondence...
Fight the good fight of faith...
1 Timothy 6:11-12
I remain very busy working in the chapel and answering mail correspondence...
...along with preparing Bible studies for my class on Wednesday evenings. Yet I also admit to the need to slow the pace down to allow myself time to recuperate, especially after a grueling year in 2023. But I need to try harder to rest, and I find it very difficult to do so. I need to work on this.
The environment I'm in is stressful in itself. There's constant mind-numbing noise, even until after midnight. Conversations that appear mindless go on for much of the day, and well into the evening. There is nothing normal about prison life. Living behind the walls is a hardship that cannot be explained, nor understood. Angry, bitter, cursing men in confinement. It's a harsh world.
Yet it's in this place where God has me. Gangs, grumbling, arguing, and an occasional fistfight. Then there's the drugs, and the overdoses. The cell and body searches we must routinely endure, and every so often having to be sniffed by a dog on the hunt for narcotics. It's all part of the landscape.
And along with this is the daily noise of the voices of tormented men confined to cages, shouting madly. While men like myself have to hear their piercing shouts, where so many times I've had to fight off the feeling that I was going crazy. Yes, it's true. There were times, even recently, where the levels of prolonged noise were so intense and unrelenting, that I almost thought of seeking psychiatric help in order to cope. But somehow God saw me through those rough periods.
Therefore, if anyone thinks doing time is easy, they're wrong. Being in prison requires every ounce of inner strength and patience one has within himself. And that's why I thank God. Because without His help and the strength He provides me with, I wouldn't have made it this far. And it's the same for His peace. If not for His divine peace, which surpasses all human comprehension, I would have lost my mind. Of this I am certain.
The Lord will "keep in perfect peace" those who trust in Him, and all whose minds are fixed and focused on Him. Isaiah 26:3.
D.B.
The environment I'm in is stressful in itself. There's constant mind-numbing noise, even until after midnight. Conversations that appear mindless go on for much of the day, and well into the evening. There is nothing normal about prison life. Living behind the walls is a hardship that cannot be explained, nor understood. Angry, bitter, cursing men in confinement. It's a harsh world.
Yet it's in this place where God has me. Gangs, grumbling, arguing, and an occasional fistfight. Then there's the drugs, and the overdoses. The cell and body searches we must routinely endure, and every so often having to be sniffed by a dog on the hunt for narcotics. It's all part of the landscape.
And along with this is the daily noise of the voices of tormented men confined to cages, shouting madly. While men like myself have to hear their piercing shouts, where so many times I've had to fight off the feeling that I was going crazy. Yes, it's true. There were times, even recently, where the levels of prolonged noise were so intense and unrelenting, that I almost thought of seeking psychiatric help in order to cope. But somehow God saw me through those rough periods.
Therefore, if anyone thinks doing time is easy, they're wrong. Being in prison requires every ounce of inner strength and patience one has within himself. And that's why I thank God. Because without His help and the strength He provides me with, I wouldn't have made it this far. And it's the same for His peace. If not for His divine peace, which surpasses all human comprehension, I would have lost my mind. Of this I am certain.
The Lord will "keep in perfect peace" those who trust in Him, and all whose minds are fixed and focused on Him. Isaiah 26:3.
D.B.
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