Letters from Prison

 January 18, 2021

Isolation demands discipline. St. Paul found himself in prison on more than one occasion, but unlike many of us today, these unplanned detours didn’t derail his desire to bring the Gospel to as many as possible. Where I might grumble about being deprived of my freedom to fulfill my calling, Paul used his prison time to write...and reach a far wider audience than he could have imagined. Had his missionary journeys not been interrupted, we would be bereft of nearly half the New Testament. 

I’ve read about men who’ve endured horrific imprisonment. Viktor Frankl survived Nazi concentration camps, while Louis Zamporini made it through Japanese internment in WWII. Both of them (and there were countless others) wrote of the inner discipline that enabled them to endure. Frankl came to the conclusion that though the Nazis could deprive him of everything else, they could not take from him his ability to choose, to determine his own inner life. Zamporini spoke of his determination to not let his captors break him. 

Someone once wrote that it isn’t the storm outside the ship that sinks it; it’s when the storm gets inside. We’ve all been enduring a medical, political, and cultural storm. For many, their emotional and spiritual ship is leaking badly, while others seem to be riding it out quite well. I feel somewhere in between. This is where the discipline comes in.

We’ve been in quarantine for just one week as of tomorrow morning. We exhibit no symptoms, so at this point, it’s all precautionary for the sake of others. I’ve made quite a bit of progress on the laundry room, have kept up with my workout routine, and have gotten some reading done, but I’m finding it difficult to stay focused spiritually. I read my Bible and pray, but it frequently feels perfunctory, like I’m only going through the motions. If Paul were more like me, our New Testament epistle wouldn’t consist of much more than the introduction to Galatians. I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with this, which is why I am writing this somewhat embarrassing admission. All I can say is, thank God for his longsuffering grace!