The Day Dad Went to Prison

The title of this post could be the next big country and western song my sons could write about me!

I have been to prison and I have been released from prison! One of things I thought about before moving to Terre Haute was what I could do here that I really couldn't do back home.

One of those things is rediscovering my love of basketball officiating (which I have done/am doing).

Another is to become a volunteer Federal prison Chaplain. Last night was my first time reporting for that duty. I shadowed two volunteers ("Non-Trinity Apostolic Christians"...interesting to say the least!) and one of the staff Chaplains.

There are 3 different levels of Federal prisons here in Terre Haute. I started at the minimum security
camp. I was very impressed. The place was clean, the inmates were polite and that was not a perimeter fence in sight!

I asked the Chaplain how they keep the prisoners there when there is no fence...he said they know they have it good and they don't want to loose the privilege of serving their time there.

One of the programs they run there is POP...not sure what it exactly stands for, but selected inmates live with and train future comfort dogs! I saw at least 2 dozen different dogs being walked about inside and outside the buildings.  I even got to pet a cute little lab!!

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!! I am getting on my soapbox.....

I saw a bunch of your (and mine) hard earned tax dollars last night at prison. It is true that as fellow citizens we either pay on the front end with good education and social programs or we pay on the back end with forced confinement of criminals.  Yes, there will always be outliers, but I wondered last night how many of those men (it is a men's only facility) could have been prevented from getting to this point in their lives had good education, the right social (to include the Church) programs AND their personal responsibility been in proper place earlier in their life.

I seem to remember a Native American story that ends with something along the lines of the "failure of one individual is a failure of the whole."

We are going to pay one way or another...might as well pay on the front end.