Lent '08 - Day 30: Jail

I’m falling asleep while thinking and writing about this, so this will be brief. I have a friend who has been in jail for the last few months. I recently received a letter from as to how he’s doing. He talked about having lots of time to think and read. He’s almost made it through the Bible. I got a little envious. I would not want to be in jail, but the idea of having hours upon end to pray, read, and think just sounds wonderful. And it’s true that jail has shaped many people in our history, both Biblical and other. There’s Joseph, John, Peter, and Paul. Even Jesus spent a night in the slammer. More recently, there’s been Dietrich Bonheoffer, Martin Luther, and Nelson Mandela. None of them chose or desired to be there, but it’s clear that God used their jail time for his purposes.

I spent some time reading about jail before my eye's got heavy.  Here a couple of interesting links:

Jail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bureau of Justice Statistics Jail Statistics

American Jail Association (AJA)