It's not easy having to sit in a sweltering hot room for ninety minutes, especially when it is crowded with men...
There are no windows in the prison's chapel, and no air conditioning either. AII we have to help keep the temperature bearable are several industrial size fans which we can position wherever needed within the room. But these fans are cumbersome and noisy, and they have a tendency to blow papers all over the place. But in here one learns to make due with whatever is at your disposal.
Yet even though the temperature has been in the 90s, today we drew more men than usual for our Sunday morning service. Lately we've been averaging about fifty men per service. Today it was sixty-one. Not that the numbers are important, but it was encouraging to see such a large turnout considering the oppressive heat and humidity.
And when you factor in all the standing, singing and swaying of bodies, the room becomes even more uncomfortable. Most days like this, I would leave the chapel soaked in sweat, my shirt drenched with perspiration.
I suppose, therefore, that during the summer months the chapel becomes something of a spiritual sauna where one's soul gets washed and cleansed through hearing and reading the word of God, while one's pores get opened and cleaned, as well.
D.B.
Yet even though the temperature has been in the 90s, today we drew more men than usual for our Sunday morning service. Lately we've been averaging about fifty men per service. Today it was sixty-one. Not that the numbers are important, but it was encouraging to see such a large turnout considering the oppressive heat and humidity.
And when you factor in all the standing, singing and swaying of bodies, the room becomes even more uncomfortable. Most days like this, I would leave the chapel soaked in sweat, my shirt drenched with perspiration.
I suppose, therefore, that during the summer months the chapel becomes something of a spiritual sauna where one's soul gets washed and cleansed through hearing and reading the word of God, while one's pores get opened and cleaned, as well.
D.B.
