GOSPEL SUBSTITUTES
Most people think of prison as a place where inmates simply kill time. Ironically, it was in prison, last Easter, that I learned a powerful lesson about redeeming time. Before preaching at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison, I visited death row. Most of the inmates were in their bunks wrapped in blankets, staring blankly at little black and white TV screens – as they had for years – killing time while awaiting their own final judgment. But in one cell a man was sitting on his bunk, reading. As I approached he looked up brightly and showed me his book – an instruction manual on Episcopal liturgy. His name was John Irving. He’d been on death row for more than 15 years, and he was studying for the priesthood. John told me he was allowed out of his cell one hour each day. The rest of the time, he explained, he studied – preparing to meet Christ or to serve Him here. Seeing that…
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