Hi folks,

I recently had the honor of attending the inmates' Christmas concert at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution.  The invitation had been extended to me after a show I did for some of the prisoners back in the fall. It was to be the only concert the choir gave all year, and the first time outsiders like me would ever be permitted to attend!

The concert was a powerful experience!  Big rough looking guys, visibly proud to be sporting flowing blue and gold choir robes over their prison whites; each man putting his heart and soul into the program. Stomping, swaying, clapping, shouting, and SINGING! Singing of the homeless couple in Bethlehem who cradled their newborn child in barn straw, singing of hope, singing of redemption, singing for the world, singing for their lives!

From the very first hymn, I realized that something was radically different about the guys, although initially I couldn't put my finger on what it was.  Then it hit me. They seemed... for lack of a better word... free!

There's a way a man carries himself after he's been in prison for a while. It doesn't take long as a volunteer to pick up on it. A certain set to the shoulders, a look in the eye, I'm not exactly sure what all else it is, but it screams 'incarcerated'. The man can be defiant or defeated, menacing or easy going, friendly or sullen, but whatever else he conveys by his tone, posture or expression, what he clearly and sorely is not... is free.  

These men, while they sang, were absolutely free! Somewhere between the singing and the song, between the action and the beautiful message they were sharing, they had been given, at least for a few moments, a great gift. The gift was joy. And it carried them out of themselves and beyond the walls of the penitentiary.

Now, I often catch myself exaggerating stuff.  It's not a crime... lots of writers often will stretch the truth to make a point. But that's not what's going on here. If you'd been in that prison chapel with me, you'd have seen it too! And it was not far wide of miraculous!

And it got me thinking.

So many folks are hurting right now. Imprisoned in their own way by the anxieties or the burdens they struggle with, whether they be physical, economic, mental, or emotional. We all know folks doing time in these kinds of jails. Maybe we're behind some high walls ourselves. But it seems there is -- at least from time to time -- a way out!

Whatever your personal version of a prison Christmas concert might be... whatever you can do that merges your own particular faith in the power of love with your unique talents, (And I sure don't mean just musical talents, maybe it's baking cookies or fixing busted stuff or maybe it's just the goofy grin you wear sometimes to crack people up, whatever your personal gifts might be, even if you're the only one who sees them -as- gifts!), I hope you'll create an opportunity in your world to share them with a few outsiders soon!  And, in that sharing, may you find the joy that sets prisoners free!

Peace and good on you!

John