I often wonder what brings men to prison...
...for there are really a myriad of reasons why people commit crimes and end up hurting others as well as themselves.
Kyle* is such a man. He's an affable, easygoing and likeable person. Soft-spoken and always polite, it's hard to imagine him doing time for a homicide.
Kyle is a well-educated man who had a good job before coming to prison. He has grown children who are doing well, and whom he writes to every week, Until the time of his crime, he was an honest, hardworking citizen who never expected to end up in a place like this. But in a weak and stressful moment he took a life.
Presently Kyle is doing a life sentence and has a long way to go before he's up for parole. Yet just the other day Kyle leashed that he's dying. He hasn't been feeling well, and I've noticed how his health has been deteriorating. Then his test results came back that he has pancreatic cancer.
Over the years that I've known Kyle, I shared things about Christ. He would listen politely but never appeared to be deeply challenged. He would make a promise to read a particular Scripture, but he would never start a discussion about it when he'd see me later on.
Then today, Kyle awoke feeling very sick. A guard called the infirmary, and he was taken out of his cell in a wheelchair. Then later this afternoon we learned that he was transported to an outside hospital. This is not a good sign. His friends and I have been uneasy.
Interestingly, about a year ago Kyle came to a Sunday morning chapel service and made a profession of faith in Christ. However, he only came this one time and never returned. I could never understand how a man can receive Jesus as his Savior during a church service, and twenty minutes later seem to lose all interest in Him.
My heart is grieved that Kyle now has cancer, and this type is often fatal. I pray that as a result of this ordeal Kyle will get closer to Christ. I pray too, that he will truly repent of his sins and place his trust in the Lord. May the Lord heal Kyle as well as watch over his family. He may never go home again.
D.B.
*Kyle is not his real name.
Kyle* is such a man. He's an affable, easygoing and likeable person. Soft-spoken and always polite, it's hard to imagine him doing time for a homicide.
Kyle is a well-educated man who had a good job before coming to prison. He has grown children who are doing well, and whom he writes to every week, Until the time of his crime, he was an honest, hardworking citizen who never expected to end up in a place like this. But in a weak and stressful moment he took a life.
Presently Kyle is doing a life sentence and has a long way to go before he's up for parole. Yet just the other day Kyle leashed that he's dying. He hasn't been feeling well, and I've noticed how his health has been deteriorating. Then his test results came back that he has pancreatic cancer.
Over the years that I've known Kyle, I shared things about Christ. He would listen politely but never appeared to be deeply challenged. He would make a promise to read a particular Scripture, but he would never start a discussion about it when he'd see me later on.
Then today, Kyle awoke feeling very sick. A guard called the infirmary, and he was taken out of his cell in a wheelchair. Then later this afternoon we learned that he was transported to an outside hospital. This is not a good sign. His friends and I have been uneasy.
Interestingly, about a year ago Kyle came to a Sunday morning chapel service and made a profession of faith in Christ. However, he only came this one time and never returned. I could never understand how a man can receive Jesus as his Savior during a church service, and twenty minutes later seem to lose all interest in Him.
My heart is grieved that Kyle now has cancer, and this type is often fatal. I pray that as a result of this ordeal Kyle will get closer to Christ. I pray too, that he will truly repent of his sins and place his trust in the Lord. May the Lord heal Kyle as well as watch over his family. He may never go home again.
D.B.
*Kyle is not his real name.