Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Romans 12:12
Few men wish to remain in prison, and I'm not one of them...
Romans 12:12
Few men wish to remain in prison, and I'm not one of them...
But while I have come to accept my life sentence and have adjusted well to incarceration, the Lord has shown me time and again why I really need to be here. I'm here to help my fellow prisoners in any way I can.
In the eyes of the Department of Corrections, I am only a name and a number, and a "charge" whom they have to feed and oversee. But in God's eyes, I am one of His children. And because I have a relationship with Him, I am able to help my fellow felons with their spiritual needs, and some other needs as well.
It's not that I have any special skill or ability within myself. I do not. But as a follower of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and because God's Spirit now indwells within me, it is by and through Him that I could counsel, comfort, encourage, and pray with and for my peers.
And this is what I had to do yesterday when a fellow inmate was called into the chaplain's office, where he was told that his father had unexpectedly passed away. Heartbroken and in tears, his dad, whom he had only recently managed to restore a relationship with after many years of conflict and separation, was gone.
So after he was done speaking with the chaplain, being that I'm his clerk and work alongside him in the office, I was able to spend time with the grieving man, too. I hugged him and gave him my condolences. I was also able to have a conversation with this broken man, who was only in his mid-thirties.
I told him that I too had a rocky relationship with my dad, and how devastated my father was when I was arrested. How he suffered seeing his son go to prison with a life sentence. But I also told him that, like him, our once damaged relationship was mended. How God made it possible for my dad and I to make peace. He was comforted by this. I said, "The Lord made it possible for you and your father to make peace, as well."
I was thankful to have had the opportunity to comfort this grieving soul. And I will speak with him again. But this is one of the reasons the Lord has me here. To comfort hurting souls and to help put words of hope into broken hearts.
Society and the criminal justice system has me in prison for punishment, and I won't argue with this. But the Lord has me in prison to administer first aid to injured hearts (see Isaiah 50:4).
D.B.
In the eyes of the Department of Corrections, I am only a name and a number, and a "charge" whom they have to feed and oversee. But in God's eyes, I am one of His children. And because I have a relationship with Him, I am able to help my fellow felons with their spiritual needs, and some other needs as well.
It's not that I have any special skill or ability within myself. I do not. But as a follower of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and because God's Spirit now indwells within me, it is by and through Him that I could counsel, comfort, encourage, and pray with and for my peers.
And this is what I had to do yesterday when a fellow inmate was called into the chaplain's office, where he was told that his father had unexpectedly passed away. Heartbroken and in tears, his dad, whom he had only recently managed to restore a relationship with after many years of conflict and separation, was gone.
So after he was done speaking with the chaplain, being that I'm his clerk and work alongside him in the office, I was able to spend time with the grieving man, too. I hugged him and gave him my condolences. I was also able to have a conversation with this broken man, who was only in his mid-thirties.
I told him that I too had a rocky relationship with my dad, and how devastated my father was when I was arrested. How he suffered seeing his son go to prison with a life sentence. But I also told him that, like him, our once damaged relationship was mended. How God made it possible for my dad and I to make peace. He was comforted by this. I said, "The Lord made it possible for you and your father to make peace, as well."
I was thankful to have had the opportunity to comfort this grieving soul. And I will speak with him again. But this is one of the reasons the Lord has me here. To comfort hurting souls and to help put words of hope into broken hearts.
Society and the criminal justice system has me in prison for punishment, and I won't argue with this. But the Lord has me in prison to administer first aid to injured hearts (see Isaiah 50:4).
D.B.
