during my last year in seminary i started visiting the local jail because jesus told us to do things like that from time to time. i won't romanticize it; it was difficult on many levels. many times i felt like i had nothing in common and nothing to say to the men i visited. what did i know of the kind of life they experienced? what could i from my place of privilege say to them?
so instead of trying to talk i just listened most of the time and apologized a lot of the time. i apologized for a corrupt system and a flawed society that no doubt contributed to their imprisonment at some level; after all, no one is born wanting to be incarcerated. the advocate in me wanted to know everything about them and go to court with them to make sure they at least got a fair trial (something the constitution guarantees but governments often find ways of obfuscating). but currently i'm starting to wonder if anything could possibly be called fair and just from the perspective of someone in jail.
when they point out to me that lewis "scooter" libby was found guilty and never served a day in jail because his sentence was commuted by the president, how can i, how can anyone think things are fair?
i suppose it reinforces the point that our faith is not in human structures like the court system or the oval office, and that ultimately God will judge justly even as humans are incapable of it. but such continued hypocrisy and blatant disregard for what is just and right from a president who claims to be a Christian (and a United Methodist at that) makes everything - but especially being in ministry with those in prison - harder.
so instead of trying to talk i just listened most of the time and apologized a lot of the time. i apologized for a corrupt system and a flawed society that no doubt contributed to their imprisonment at some level; after all, no one is born wanting to be incarcerated. the advocate in me wanted to know everything about them and go to court with them to make sure they at least got a fair trial (something the constitution guarantees but governments often find ways of obfuscating). but currently i'm starting to wonder if anything could possibly be called fair and just from the perspective of someone in jail.
when they point out to me that lewis "scooter" libby was found guilty and never served a day in jail because his sentence was commuted by the president, how can i, how can anyone think things are fair?
i suppose it reinforces the point that our faith is not in human structures like the court system or the oval office, and that ultimately God will judge justly even as humans are incapable of it. but such continued hypocrisy and blatant disregard for what is just and right from a president who claims to be a Christian (and a United Methodist at that) makes everything - but especially being in ministry with those in prison - harder.
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