Sometimes I cry

Country gospel artist Jason Crabb sings a song that I like…I believe it was written by his dad:

I look the part
Blend in with the rest of the church crowd
I know the routine
I could list all the Bible studies in town

Watch Christian TV
I know all the preachers, their cliches
I've been born again
And without a doubt I know I'm saved

But sometimes I hurt and sometimes I cry…

I was thinking of that song today, after I chatted with a pleasant woman who right now is making a one-hour drive to see her father in prison.  I hope it goes all right, because her father is dying.  At the top of his list of medical problems is Stage 4 cancer.  He’s heavily medicated, but things aren’t going well.  She has no complaints about his medical care.  A prison nurse has been most helpful.  A prison social worker has been more than kind.  But, her dad’s in prison, he’s only slightly beyond middle-age, and he’s dying. 

This comes on the heels of another situation that I have mentioned in an earlier blog, where a woman was working hard to get her mother out of prison for specialized healthcare in her final days on earth.

I don’t mean to minimize all of the other issues that come across our desk.  Each problem is terribly important to that particular prisoner.  We recognize that, and we give each situation our best shot.  But, having a parent in prison is terribly unpleasant; having a parent who is dying in prison is just plain painful.  And not only for family members.

We seldom shed real tears any more, or we’d be weeping all the time.

But I can assure you that we do not get calloused to the misery and grief that has become a part of our life and our work.

And deep down, inside…

Sometimes we cry.

Comments

Bob Bulten said…
Thanks, Doug. I'm crying with you.
holly said…
It is hard enough having a loved one in prison, let alone watching them suffer and not being able to comfort them in the way they need it. My heart goes out to them, and anyone in similar circumstances. I pray my son makes it home well. I have never wanted time to pass swiftly as much as I do now.
holly said…
It is hard enough having a loved one in prison, let alone watching them suffer and not being able to comfort them in the way they need it. My heart goes out to them, and anyone in similar circumstances. I pray my son makes it home well. I have never wanted time to pass swiftly as much as I do now.

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