There's the Rub
(Chapter Six)

In chapter 5, I introduced you to Ken, and the good things he does for the men in this facility. Now, I want to introduce you to Josh, a 43 year-old who's been in prison since the age of 17, who in 1988 was arrested and subsequently convicted to a natural life sentence in prison. When he first came into the system he did the things all young kids who are full of themselves do - get in trouble. Josh, frequently got involved in the drug trade and everything else that goes along with it. But in 2001, things began to change.

It was at that time he started to hang around with a different set of friends and his perspective on life began to change. No longer was he getting involved in drugs. Now it was church. In 2002, Josh was Baptized and Confirmed. From there he began a life of meaningful change. Attending programs, frequently attending church activities and staying out of trouble. Twelve years later, Josh had his first calling: to sponsor someone for Confirmation. He said, "I was suprised when I was asked because I did not have any apprehension about it at all." Since then, every week he attends Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) with his candidate. He has expressed his enthusiasm in attending by saying, "I am learning more about my faith this second time around. It's an honor to help someone learn the faith. I don't think it's an extraordinary thing to do but it's the right thing to do."

The young man he is sponsoring is relatively new to the system and the thing that Josh looks back on as motivation is the fact that no one did this for him when he came in. Rather it was, "here's a knife-handle your business."

This is just one example of someone who is in prison doing the right thing for no other reason than...just because! In 2002, Josh never would have imagined that he would one day be given an opportunity to get out of prison. Yet, he made a concious decision to change his life and follow God. Now, in 2014, God has rewarded that faith by providing him with a genuine opportunity at a second chance with the decision by the Supreme Judicial Court, which states that, it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison. It violates the 8th amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

And there's the rub, regardless of our surroundings and despire our failures, we can overcome. It's more than being better then our contemporaries and predecessor's, it's about being better than ourselves.

The Spirit of the Lord is truly working here in the prison.