What John Found in Solitude
My mom works with juvinille felons. She loves her work although it's tough. She also learns a lot about life and human nature as she interacts with folks on the other side of the fence (barbedwire fence that is).
Recently while in a prison she told me of a conversation that she had with a man named John. John was imprisoned for theft. After attempting a priosn break he was removed from general population of the prison and placed into solitary confinement. John's life was confined to isolation in one cramped cell for 23 hours a day every day. Apparently during this time in confinement he did some soul searching.
One day he confessed to my mom, "While in solitary confinement everyday, all day, the thought finally occurred to me that the mess I'm in may not be everyone elses fault. It might actually be my own fault."
"That's an important realization", mom replied, wanting to affirm the fact that he was owning up to his wrong doing.
"So, how long in solitary did it take you to realize this", mom naturally inquired.
John looked at her with a blank stare and replied, "I guess that thought occurred to me somewhere in my fourth year of solitary confinement."
Think about that for a moment. It took a grown man sitting alone for 23 hours a day, for 1460 days. . .that's 33,580 hours of wall-to-wall aloneness to finally begin to own up to the evil within!
Now, I'm not here to judge. Are any of our hearts any different? Without the grace of God, none of us are capable of owning up to any of our junk.
The deeper truth that I took from my conversation with mom is a reminder of the deceptive nature of the human soul. Even when we are alone, we want to look any place. . .at brick and mortor. . .at a flies buzzing around. . .at the bars we're held captive by. . .any place and every place but within. Eventually, John either had no place else to look or God used the alone time to force him to look at himself. Probably it was both. All I know is that somewhere in his fourth year of exile his eyes opened in a new and fresh way and his soul followed suit.
Looking deep within. Owning our junk. Viewing our old lives in a new way. This is what John found in solitude.
My mom works with juvinille felons. She loves her work although it's tough. She also learns a lot about life and human nature as she interacts with folks on the other side of the fence (barbedwire fence that is).
Recently while in a prison she told me of a conversation that she had with a man named John. John was imprisoned for theft. After attempting a priosn break he was removed from general population of the prison and placed into solitary confinement. John's life was confined to isolation in one cramped cell for 23 hours a day every day. Apparently during this time in confinement he did some soul searching.
One day he confessed to my mom, "While in solitary confinement everyday, all day, the thought finally occurred to me that the mess I'm in may not be everyone elses fault. It might actually be my own fault."
"That's an important realization", mom replied, wanting to affirm the fact that he was owning up to his wrong doing.
"So, how long in solitary did it take you to realize this", mom naturally inquired.
John looked at her with a blank stare and replied, "I guess that thought occurred to me somewhere in my fourth year of solitary confinement."
Think about that for a moment. It took a grown man sitting alone for 23 hours a day, for 1460 days. . .that's 33,580 hours of wall-to-wall aloneness to finally begin to own up to the evil within!
Now, I'm not here to judge. Are any of our hearts any different? Without the grace of God, none of us are capable of owning up to any of our junk.
The deeper truth that I took from my conversation with mom is a reminder of the deceptive nature of the human soul. Even when we are alone, we want to look any place. . .at brick and mortor. . .at a flies buzzing around. . .at the bars we're held captive by. . .any place and every place but within. Eventually, John either had no place else to look or God used the alone time to force him to look at himself. Probably it was both. All I know is that somewhere in his fourth year of exile his eyes opened in a new and fresh way and his soul followed suit.
Looking deep within. Owning our junk. Viewing our old lives in a new way. This is what John found in solitude.
posted by Heath at
5:52 PM
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