“What has God’s grace looked like for me?”
In a quiet moment, we might look at our lives and ask this question.
“There, but for the grace of God, go I,” might be the answer.
However, we quickly forget what that has meant for us in terms of forgiveness, privilege, opportunity or what God has spared us from.
For those who are in prison, the word ‘grace’ is alien. Prisons are places that are devoid of grace and mercy with judgement and punishment all that remain. One must climb the pecking order to attain power. It is no wonder why people find it so hard to believe that God can be a God of forgiveness, mercy and grace, when they are deprived of that experience.
In his grace, God sends his people, messengers of grace, to announce the good news. “We can never pay our debts or do enough time in prison. The path of grace is the only way out”. It is tragic that for some people, even church going people serving God (like Jared), it takes a prison cell for them to learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
There but for the grace of God, go I.
– Jesse Caulfield, Chaplaincy Coordinator