{"id":4210,"date":"2024-11-22T06:55:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T11:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4210"},"modified":"2024-11-22T06:56:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T11:56:14","slug":"something-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/22\/something-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Something Important"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

In 1982, Chuck Colson brought a team of Prison Fellowship workers to the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

There they led a worship service for the inmates, including a number of offenders on Death Row.

Colson spoke movingly of God\u2019s gifts of hope, healing, and forgiveness, available to everyone.

Then he looked at his watch. His schedule was tight. A plane was waiting to fly him to a meeting with Governor Robert D. Orr.

As Colson recounts in his book Loving God, <\/em>\u201cAfter we finished \u2018Amazing Grace\u2019 we said our goodbyes and began filing out. We were crowded into the caged area between two massive gates when we noticed one volunteer had stayed back.\u201d

No one could leave until all the volunteers were accounted for. 

Colson strode back down the corridor and found the volunteer, a white fifty-something man, inside the cell of James Brewer, a young black inmate who had been convicted of committing murder during a 1977 home invasion in northwestern Indiana.

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, we have to leave,\u201d Colson said.

That\u2019s when he noticed the two men were standing shoulder to shoulder and looking down at a Bible. \u201cOh, yes,\u201d the volunteer acknowledged. \u201cGive us a minute, please.\u201d Then he added in a soft voice, \u201cThis is important.\u201d

Important? <\/em>

Colson was miffed. Meeting with the governor \u2013 now that<\/em> was important. 

Who did this guy think he was?

\u201c\u2019No, I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 I snapped. \u2018I can\u2019t keep the governor waiting. We must go.\u2019\u201d

\u201cI understand,\u201d the volunteer replied, in a gentle voice, \u201cbut this is important. You see, I\u2019m Judge Clement. I\u2019m the man who sentenced James here to die. But now he\u2019s my brother and we want a minute to pray together.\u201d

James L. Clement had been praying for James Brewer every day for four years, ever since he had sentenced him to death in a Lake County courthouse. 

Colson writes, \u201cI stood frozen in the cell doorway. It didn\u2019t matter who I kept waiting.  

\u201cBefore me were two men: one was powerless, the other powerful; one was black, the other white; one had sentenced the other to death. Anywhere other than the kingdom of God, that inmate might have killed that judge with his bare hands\u2014or wanted to, anyway. Now they were one, their faces reflecting an indescribable expression of love as they prayed together.\u201d

Sometimes the greatest acts of healing take place far away from hospitals.

And sometimes the greatest moments of freedom happen behind prison bars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In 1982, Chuck Colson brought a team of Prison Fellowship workers to the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. There they led a worship service for the inmates, including a number of offenders on Death Row. Colson spoke movingly of God\u2019s gifts of hope, healing, and forgiveness, available to everyone. Then… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[564,345],"class_list":["post-4210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-priorities","tag-salvation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4213,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210\/revisions\/4213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}