letter from prison

A friend of mine received a letter recently from her son who is in prison. He said he had given his life to the Lord.

What joy there must be in heaven, I thought. That’s what Scripture says. The Shepherd has gone after one lost sheep and there is great rejoicing that He has found it.

It reminded me of the parable of the prodigal son.

Over the years I have identified with both sons in this story: the one who ran off to live it up in the world until he found the world not to his liking and the one who stayed home, but was resentful when the wastrel was given so much love.

Now I joined my friend in feeling some of the can joy of the father as he saw his wayward son turn again toward home.

Then a little voice whispered in my ear: Yes, but is it real? Will it last when he gets out of prison? Is it just a ploy to get sympathy, attention, love? Even if he means it, will he be able to stick with it?

My guess is that my friend has some of the same questions.

Jesus did not say if the father in the parable wondered if his son would stay at home just long enough to regain his health – and then take off again?

He did not speculate on whether the son would have turned again to his father if things had not gotten so bad. Or if what could happen once they were better. He just rejoiced.

The world is often cynical about prison conversions. It watched to see if Charles Colson was going to do something that would show he had not really changed, that he was not really a new person. I think some still watch after all these years.

When you think about, what better place is there for a conversion than in prison?

When Jesus said He came to set the captives free, He didn’t mean just those behind physical bars and locked doors. Most of us are in prisons of our own making. The prisoner of the State knows he is in prison; the rest of us try to overlook the fact.

We are fortunate if Someone finally makes us see it. The prisoner who sees his prison knows the need for release. Those of us in invisible prisons persist in denial. If by chance we catch a glimpse of the “bars” or “locked doors,” we do all we can to get ourselves out by our own efforts. We turn to the many “how to” books available now.

When all these human efforts fail, we finally come to the point reached by my friend’s son, surrender to God.

Is this self serving? Sure it is. And it serves us well if we mean it.

Is it easy? Yes and no. We have to give up our lives as they are, which sounds hard and is – until you have done it. Once on the other side of surrender, you find it wasn’t so hard at all, not compared to the joy that followed.

The prodigal son, the letter writer in prison and I share the knowledge that the world we live in does not hold the answers for us. This is the beginning, the first step in the journey that will take the rest of our lives.

I pray for a good journey for my friend’s son. And for you and yours, and me and mine.