As a Christian, not to mention that I have been in prison for more than thirty years, I am better able to understand the pain, grief, and frustration that my fellow prisoners experience as they do their "time" and serve out their sentences...
In addition, I believe that through the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit, I am able to show mercy and compassion to others. It is really a work of love. And I thank the Lord for where He has brought me from - the "pit of madness" - and for the way He is using my life now. To Jesus be the glory!
Yet, in spite of my attempts to help these men, I am not always successful. Likewise, not everyone who came in contact with the Lord and saw His miracles and heard Him teach came to believe in Him. Many rejected Jesus, and men still reject Him today.
So while I am disappointed in Chris (see my entry for Mamma's Boy), I'm not surprised. Chris never made it to church. I met and spoke briefly with him several more times since our lengthy talk in the recreation yard. But Chris is easily led, and in this case, misled. He quickly fell in with his old hangout buddies since returning to prison, just like he'd fallen in with his former friends when he was released on parole earlier this year.
In and out. Chris is a living example of the proverbial "revolving door." Without self-discipline, and without a viable goal, and lacking faith in Christ, too, many who are released from prison eventually end up once more in trouble with the law.
Actually, this time, Chris was returned to prison without having committed a new crime. He simply violated his curfew. His parole officer therefore decided to issue a warrant for his arrest based on the violation. Now Chris must serve another year before he gets the chance to try again at making it in society.
D.B.
Yet, in spite of my attempts to help these men, I am not always successful. Likewise, not everyone who came in contact with the Lord and saw His miracles and heard Him teach came to believe in Him. Many rejected Jesus, and men still reject Him today.
So while I am disappointed in Chris (see my entry for Mamma's Boy), I'm not surprised. Chris never made it to church. I met and spoke briefly with him several more times since our lengthy talk in the recreation yard. But Chris is easily led, and in this case, misled. He quickly fell in with his old hangout buddies since returning to prison, just like he'd fallen in with his former friends when he was released on parole earlier this year.
In and out. Chris is a living example of the proverbial "revolving door." Without self-discipline, and without a viable goal, and lacking faith in Christ, too, many who are released from prison eventually end up once more in trouble with the law.
Actually, this time, Chris was returned to prison without having committed a new crime. He simply violated his curfew. His parole officer therefore decided to issue a warrant for his arrest based on the violation. Now Chris must serve another year before he gets the chance to try again at making it in society.
D.B.
