This afternoon, I left my cell block to take a walk in the bright sunshine...
I needed time outdoors after a busy morning. I was in the chapel for much of it, first helping to set up the equipment for today's service, then assisting my chaplain with the worship.
As I was walking, however, I was joined by a man whom I know to be on the fringe of belonging to a gang. I could tell that he also likes to get high. Once in a while I'd see him with a glassy-eyed "stoned" look. But we did have a friendly talk as he and I strolled the yard together.
Many months ago, I was surprised when he suddenly showed up for a Sunday morning's chapel service. He had come back once after that, and never returned. This is common in here. Prisons are filled with restless men and women who are searching for something. So when I first saw this muscular Hispanic man who's perhaps in his mid-thirties, I recognized in him an emptiness and an inner yearning for meaning and purpose. People who do not have a personal relationship with their Creator experience this, and it's manifested in different ways.
To me, as a minister, seeing an individual with a dead soul is easy to spot. His smiles are superficial, and his laughter sounds hollow. More times than not, I'd see him wearing a perpetual frown. It's part the result of never knowing genuine happiness and fulfillment, and part not having God's Spirit living in his heart. This man is such a person.
Frankly, I've seen this "dead soul" look in hundreds of faces. I had it before I became a Christian. It's a lost look which reveals hopelessness and deep despair. It exudes from one's aura. Furthermore, I have observed this in both prisoners as well as the guards. These men have been swimming in the polluted "Sea of Sin" for far too long. And they will stay in this condition, I believe, until each is rescued by Jesus Christ.
So I tried to encourage my friend to place his faith in Christ. During our conversation he told me how discouraged he's been feeling due to various situations in his personal life, including a wife who's busy doing other things. But I reminded him that Jesus is still patiently knocking on the door of his heart. The Lord has been calling out his name, I said. I told him, too, that I'd pray for him. And I have.
D.B.
As I was walking, however, I was joined by a man whom I know to be on the fringe of belonging to a gang. I could tell that he also likes to get high. Once in a while I'd see him with a glassy-eyed "stoned" look. But we did have a friendly talk as he and I strolled the yard together.
Many months ago, I was surprised when he suddenly showed up for a Sunday morning's chapel service. He had come back once after that, and never returned. This is common in here. Prisons are filled with restless men and women who are searching for something. So when I first saw this muscular Hispanic man who's perhaps in his mid-thirties, I recognized in him an emptiness and an inner yearning for meaning and purpose. People who do not have a personal relationship with their Creator experience this, and it's manifested in different ways.
To me, as a minister, seeing an individual with a dead soul is easy to spot. His smiles are superficial, and his laughter sounds hollow. More times than not, I'd see him wearing a perpetual frown. It's part the result of never knowing genuine happiness and fulfillment, and part not having God's Spirit living in his heart. This man is such a person.
Frankly, I've seen this "dead soul" look in hundreds of faces. I had it before I became a Christian. It's a lost look which reveals hopelessness and deep despair. It exudes from one's aura. Furthermore, I have observed this in both prisoners as well as the guards. These men have been swimming in the polluted "Sea of Sin" for far too long. And they will stay in this condition, I believe, until each is rescued by Jesus Christ.
So I tried to encourage my friend to place his faith in Christ. During our conversation he told me how discouraged he's been feeling due to various situations in his personal life, including a wife who's busy doing other things. But I reminded him that Jesus is still patiently knocking on the door of his heart. The Lord has been calling out his name, I said. I told him, too, that I'd pray for him. And I have.
D.B.
