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CONDEMNATION VS COMPASSION
Special occasions tend to bring out both the best and the worst in people. Even Christmas is not exempt from this phenomenon. Four events which took place during the holidays demonstrate this characteristic of human nature in a very vivid way. As I witnessed the actions and attitudes of three individuals and a class I teach I was reminded of the parable which Jesus told in Luke 18.
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God I thank You that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust. adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)
The first man was one who had come from an upper middle class family, provided with nice clothes, a college education and pretty much all of the better things of life. He is married with a child, moderately successful with a wife who is able to earn enough for them together to enjoy an upper middle class lifestyle. He attends church on a regular basis and is generally well respected by his peers. He has never experienced a major tragedy, abuse, hunger, homelessness or any other misfortunes which have been a way of life for many of the people I work with. He never served in the military, never been part of a service organization, nor in any other way given anything back to society.
When the subject of my class at the jail on Christmas day his attitude was basically, “Why are you taking time away from family to go bring a lesson to a bunch of misfits.” When I replied that these were not bad men, but men who had made bad choices, his response was to the effect, “Bad choices are made by bad men.”
The second was a man serving twenty years in prison. He came out of a totally dysfunctional home from which he had been removed by the state at the age of 6. He was placed in foster home after foster home. Sexually molested at the age of ten and carrying major emotional pain from which his only escape was drugs. With no education, no family support and no real friends he went from one failure to another. It was his drug use as a means of escaping the emotional pain, along with his failures, that finally placed him up in prison. I have been corresponding with him for several years and have come to have a great deal of respect for him as a very caring and compassionate individual who did some very bad things under the influence of drugs. However, today he has been baptized, is taking Bible courses in prison and hopes to become an assistant to the Chaplain.
A year ago he has asked for a picture of my wife and I. I sent him a snapshot of the two of us in front of a Christmas tree. A few days before this Christmas an envelope arrived. It contained a pencil sketch of the two of us made from the picture I had sent him. He had bartered with another prisoner to get the sketch. The Christmas card that came with it was obviously homemade. The short note enclosed with it contained the words “Thank You” five times, the word “appreciate” once and “appreciation” twice. It ended with the words, “I pray for you every night and thank God for making you a part of my life.” Guess which is the most beautiful card we received this year?
The third individual was a man who is now out on parole. He was the first prisoner I ever corresponded with. We corresponded for over two years prior to his release and he has continued his studies with me since his release. Drugs had taken him from being the top trauma nurse in a major hospital to being a cocaine addict living under a bridge. Today he has been clean for over four years, attends church on a regular basis and works for the humane society caring for homeless animals. He lives in a half-way house and his transportation is a bicycle. Over half of his meager earnings are going to his teenage son. He talks with pride about his son and the probability that he is going to receive a football scholarship for college. He also contributes time for public service and wants to talk to teenagers about the dangers of drugs and what they can do to a person.
His Christmas present was also meager, consisting of a small scented candle and a small can of mocha coffee. His message was a verbal duplication of the card we received from the man still in prison. There was a special warmth in his sincerity and added joy as he sat down to have Christmas dinner with us. His small gift was the most treasured of all we received.
As Christmas day drew toward a close it was time for my regular Thursday night class at the jail. A number of people had asked me if I was going to cancel class that night since it was Christmas. My answer was, “Why would I want to deprive myself of the most enjoyable part of my Christmas?” There are ten men in each of my classes and to be totally honest they are a pretty motley crew. Many unshaven, long hair, tattoos on some and others with a haggard look that comes from years of drug use. They are not “hardened criminals,” but weak men who have made some very bad choices in life. A few of them came out of stable homes but for the most part had grown up on the street. Most are there for misdemeanors ranging from driving on a revoked license to domestic disturbance, drug possession and driving under the influence.
Their friends are a consistence bad influence and society has pretty much neglected them. Do they deserve to be where they are? Yes! Do I justify the conduct which put them there? Absolutely not! Are they all going to become model citizens upon their release? Of course not! But there will be one or two in each class who are seriously wanting to turn their life around, and do. I later see these men on the street from time to time and always with a smile, handshake and a big thank you. In a couple cases a bear hug. They take pride in introducing me as the “man who taught them in jail.”
When my partner and I arrived at class they were ll gathered outside the door waiting for our arrival. We were greeted with hand shakes, smiles and thank you for coming. I had decided to dispense with the material on emotional pain and addictive behavior that night, and instead to talk about Jesus and His’ birth. To the man they sat attentively as we read the story of Jesus birth from the book of Luke. Then there were questions, comments and discussion as in a very real sense we relived the events of that night and all that it meant. When the class was over we joined hands for a prayer circle. Each man told the group what he would like to ask of God then one of them led the prayer. Afterward to the man they shook our hands and thanked my partner and I for bring a little Christmas to a very dreary place. One of them told me that he always looked forward to the class but having one about Jesus birth made it feel a little more like Christmas. It was the only visit and gift he had received.
To paraphrase Jesus question I would ask, “Which of the above men went to his bed that night justified in God’s eyes?” Only God knows the answer to that question, but I know with certainty who went to his bed the most blessed.
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