During the last couple of years I have been exposed to a whole sub culture of people who are presently incarcerated or have recently been incarcerated. A large percentage of these people are caught in a tangled web of addiction and recidivism. It’s heartbreaking to hear the lonely voices, the cries of the broken people wanting their loved ones to understand and give them one more chance. I’ve seen them stranded in the prison, crying out for anyone to know they still exist. Don’t get me wrong, I know most of them deserve what they got. Nearly all of them made choices that directly relate to their present condition. Still, do we remember these people? Personally I have given huge amounts of time, money, and energy to assist those “locked down.” My heart hurts for them, I cannot help most of them, they are beyond the help of an individual, they need to help themselves. But, how many of us should be there? Could be there? There but for the Grace of God go I, is the old saying. How can we understand, help, but still let our love be “tough love” and let them experience the repercussions of their actions? Take a minute today to remember those struggling with addictions, those dually diagnosed with both addiction and mental problems. Write to someone you know, volunteer to write someone you don’t know, or just simply pray for those in “the Big House.” The disciples asked Jesus, when did we see you in prison? He responded, “as you have done to the least of these you have done it to me.”
Guest Author Bio
Drew Sager
I think and think and 99 times I’m wrong. But on the 100th time, I’m right. – Einstein
I blog, play guitar, body surf, ride a Harley, and occasionally go to church. Oh, and I live in Hawaii! I’m an apologist and an apostate. I’ve been knocked down, way down, and fought my way back up, way up. I’ve been an advocate of peace and a destroyer of the same, in a word, I am dichotomy.
Blog / Website: http://www.opinionsofeye.com/
I have worked with incarcerated people off and on over the last thirty years through a church group and a 12-step program and I have noticed that it has become increasingly difficult for volunteers, even those with the most impeccable squeaky-clean records, to gain access to the prison system. It is almost as if the prison industry (and in some states it really is an industry) is more interested in ensuring a repeat clientele than in taking advantage of programs they don’t have to fund, which have a modest track record of success.