why i like mondays

I like Mondays. It's one of my favorite workdays anymore. On Sundays I share the gospel with people and I often wonder if what we heard and saw changed anyone. Not so on Mondays. Monday afternoons have become significant. I find that one of my favorite things to be is their guest. Not in a selfish sort of way, seeking the hospitaity and good graces of another, but in the sense that I like to be on other people's turf. I like to be in the unfamilarity of a new place that is not my own. Befriending prisoners was not part of my sense of call until last winter. They are why I like Mondays.
I have had the amazing opportunity for the past few months to visit with people in county prison. I see two guys every week now and will likely add another guy to my weekly visitations soon. I love going there and being their friend. It started when I started visiting a couple of folks connected to my congregation, but quickly evolved into a calling to go and share good news with strangers. Strangers who sometimes become friends. Like Dan. I found out yesterday that Dan's celly is the brother of another guy I had been visiting a few months ago. Small world. I guess I've visited 6 people in the past year. I tend to keep my circle small so I can devote attention to them over the course of their time inside. I have only been able to stay connected to two people after their release. But I expect that will change.
What is it like in there? I don't really know. But I know it's home for too many young men and women. The recidivism rate is like 50%---that's the percentage of incarcerated who return to prison with 3 years of release. Justice and mercy is an organization devoted to systemic reform. Visit their site to learn more. I also know that prison does not correct or reform, because most prisoners do not take advantage of the few opportunities offered to them. And the programs that are offered are just that; institutional programs. They are not transformational. So much of what our culture does with people is superficial and impersonal, programmatic and routine. Jesus' ministry building relationships by crossing boundaries. Going to the prisons. Jesus quoted Isaiah and said that he was proclaiming release to the captives. He also declared that visiting prisoners was tantamount to visiting the Christ.
When we visit, we talk about life inside and outside. We talk about next steps, fears and hopes. We have been been able to talk about Jesus, to pray together, to dream and hope together, to suffer together, to tell the truth to each other, and to sit in silence. I like to prescribe a spiritual practice for the guys. Read this psalm everyday. I had prescribed psalm 13 and the Sermon on the Mount for Justin. This week he shared how he was being shaped by those words. He shared the words of jesus thatstood out to him,moved him, struck him, challenged him. Few congregation members have shared such insight and excitement about Jesus'words. Perhaps they are too familiar.
When I leave now I have a little guilt. Being free is not something to take for granted, especially if you begin to identify with prisoners. Am I so different that they are? Why I am out here? The law is a tricky thing. We all break the law. We've simply weighted the law in such a way that certain breaches are penalized and others are not. Nevertheless I always look forward to Monday.