UPFRONT January 8, 2007 Issue

Follow the Wonderful one

MAIKE BYRD, CHILDREN'S EDITOR

At a special Christmas program I attended during the holidays, a tall young man walked up to the microphone with a Bible in his hands. In a halting voice, he started reading a familiar verse from Isaiah: "Unto us a child is born ..." He was obviously not comfortable reading in public, but he kept going, "... and his name shall be called Wonderful ..." (9:6).

This would not have been a noteworthy occasion, except for the fact that the event took place inside a prison. And the young man was one of the inmates. In a place defined by sad and hard criminal histories, it took courage for him to stand before 100 of his fellow inmates and read a spiritual message of joy and peace. Many of these inmates had been working to overcome the obstacles in their lives that had brought them to prison, and some had progressed to where they expected to be released within a few months, knowing the courage and strength required to become rehabilitated and make it in the outside world.

To me, it was comforting to know that the Christ, God's guiding message of hope and healing, would be there to lead them forward on a law-abiding path. And it was heartening to see that interfaith volunteers, who were visiting from local religious groups, assured these men that their church doors were open to them, if and when they needed help.

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