Over the last 11 years, I have spent over 4000 hours in prison. Phone calls to my house from friends for social invitations would be greated with, "Oh, I'm sorry we can't come, we have prison tonight. Billy and I loved going to the Carol Vance Unit and bringing God's love to the inmates. We felt more at home there than we could ever have imagined. Billy was a volunteer chaplain and often spent lunch hours and Saturdays praying with one of his adopted sons there.
Billy had been mentoring a young man at the Central Unit when he heard about a new prison program opening up 5 minutes from our house. George Bush was Governor of Texas and was exploring a faith-based program to reduce the recidivism rate of prisoners. The program was to be called the Inner Change Freedom Initiative and was staffed by Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship.
It was a sobering experience to stand at the gate, wait patiently until the guards took my drivers license, then walk through several gates. Each gate slams behind you and you are encaged until the guard releases the next gate. While standing in the cage you can look up and see the beautiful starry night in Sugarland, Texas. The view is somewhat obstructed as you look into the circled barbed wire that quickly reminds you that you want out of here a.s.a.p. There is always that momentary skipped heart beat until the lock on the gate is released and you "get out".
(Aside - I was just wondering how many things God keeps me from getting out of prematurely.)
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... or getting to the end of yourself until you can hear the still small voice of God telling us "shhhhhh. don't be afraid. i'm here. feel my strong hand on your shoulder. others don't have to see me. i'm here for you. i want you to take a deep breath and be at peace in the chaos b/c you see me. i want you to see me as david did in the den of the lions." Help us Papa God.
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