The outside world...........

My half-brother, (my mom's previous marriage) was a career in-mate. I remember as a child visiting him in jail (county jail) then when I was older I remember him being in a penitentary. As fate would have it, my father, who was a chef, took a retirement job at the same penitentary I last recall my half-brother staying at. It was a management job running a diner for the guards and family members of the guards and administration that lived on the prison compound. So as a kid, 13 to 14, I got to know lots of prisoners. The diner was run by inmates about to get parole.

My fondest memory was learning Karate from one of the in-mates. A black guy from Chicago named Wes Wesbrooke. I like to say that I have a "prison belt" in Kung fu.

But all of the inmates referred to society as "the outside world". What seems odd to me, is that when I look at society, I see a culture filled with criminals and would be inmates. While sitting in church today, I started seeing the world I live in as the "outside world". Wishing everyday was a "church day". I wished I lived in a society where everyone treated each other with respect and love. Monday thru Saturday, I have to live in the "outside world". But my inside world differs completely from the prisoners I use to know. To them, society was a place they had to learn to acclimate to. A place where they had to "behave". The outside world I know is a place where people feel they can do anything they want as long as they don't get caught breaking a law.

Two different perspectives of two different worlds. Again I'm reminded that to the non-believer/non-Christian this world is as close as they'll get to heaven. For the human that is Christ centered; this world is as close as we'll get to hell.