A prison chaplain I know quite well sent me the following
story about an incident last week:
The prison has been on a semi-annual lock-down for several
weeks. Tension grows from day to day as
everyone, inmates and staff alike are ready for some sense of normalcy to
return. The chaplain was walking across
the unit and men yelled from the windows of their cells as he passed, offering
greetings and asking questions. The chaplain returned the greetings, joked and
answered their questions as he could.
A sergeant came along the sidewalk, and the prisoners began
yelling again to get his attention. "Hey sarge!.....(he ignored them).....Hey
sarge!!......Hey sarge!!!" He
finally stopped walking, looked toward the building, and snapped in a loud,
obviously annoyed voice, "WHAT?" The voice from the cell came back,
(right here you can thank me for not typing the phrase of obnoxious vulgarity
aimed at the sergeant.) The next noises
to be heard were heckles from the other prisoners. The sergeant lost control. He had turned a
bright red and the veins in his neck were bulging. He walked toward the
building saying, "I know who you are and you are in for it now!" More laughter came from the building of
incarcerated prisoners.
The chaplain stood there, not knowing what to say or
do. God blessed him with a scripture
which came to his mind at just the right moment. The chaplain turned toward the building and
could see only the short, skinny window openings in the cells and
quoted......"When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I reasoned like a
child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things." He continued,
"You are not 12 year olds in the locker room. It is time to grow up!" A chorus of "Amen!" and "Preach
it 'Chap!'" came from the cells within ear shot.
Prison is a stressful place. Changes from normal routines,
like lock-down, make it even more stressful. The chaplain says he didn't intend
on sharing this publicly, and confessed he fought back the urge to make
himself the hero. He does want us to know whoever we are, wherever we live and
work, when we lose control we are opening the door for the Enemy to win.
I sought and received permission to share the story here,
mostly because of my messaging the chaplain some additional questions I had. He
confirmed it was a true story of an actual event in a Texas prison, but the
reply from his mouth, made to the prisoners, came from God, and not his own
thinking.
I probably do not have to tell you that we Christians are
sometimes guilty of losing our cool, flying off the handle, unable to exercise
self-control, or whatever description you wish to give. This chaplain's story
is a testimony to God's willingness to help us in those situations, even to the
point of giving us the words to say. There
is at least one unit of incarcerated felons that witnessed it last week. Perhaps we should be more aware of God's
Spirit living in us, by allowing him to give us the right words to say, and
allowing him to guide us into making right decisions in stressful times.
<ronbwriting@yahoo.com>
Amen!
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