Yesterday I visited some disabled inmates at Twin Towers Correctional Facility. These dads are on my mind today. I get big hugs from my kids daily, but inmates can only see there children over closed-circuit TV or behind glass if their children visit at all.
These dads worry about court appearances and whether their public defenders really care for their best interests. They worry they won't be able to get work when released. They can't do anything to support their children or help wives/girlfriends make ends meet from jail.
These fathers come to our class because they want to be better parents and men. Rather than sleeping in, playing cards or watching TV on a Saturday morning, they lug plastic chairs on their walkers or roll out in wheelchairs to get an hour of hope, compassion and encouragement.
I don't do much talking anymore. I just listen and pray because that's the best I have to offer. Some of these men know the Bible and speak into each others' lives far better than I do. Their everyday struggles are just too far outside of my experience.
Many will end up back on the streets haunted by addiction. Many will forget whatever revelation and life change they found on the inside and will be rearrested. A tiny few will luck into the help they need. It's extraordinarily difficult to recover from the mistakes they've made.
Statistically speaking, the children pay an enormous price in terms of social outcome (including incarceration) when they grow up without a father. It's a generational cycle that stacks the odds against families.
politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
In theory, they are paying their debt to society. But society is basically a predatory lender. (Actual predatory lenders have a role too, of course.) Yes, these men are criminals, but the system seems designed to hold not just their bodies captive, but their futures too.
This would be incredibly discouraging to dwell on and you might think visiting jail would be depressing. But I go every Saturday I can with joy. To spring a little old-time religion on you, the reason is because I share a heavenly Father with these dads in jail.
We open our Bibles and despite vastly different backgrounds, we talk about how blessed we are to be alive. Maybe it's because we see how Jesus gave up everything (even Godhood, if you believe it) for the sake of people society hoped to forget.
Anyway, those dads are on my mind today because they have hope where no reasonable person would be hopeful. I want what they have.
