December 9 – Restoration, Not Retribution

“Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings.
Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy
are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view
when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.”
– Angela Davis

God takes no prisoners. God frees. God softens hearts that have been hardened. They take those who have been burdened and bent and set them upright. In the scriptures, upright is a synonym for righteous. The psalmist’s words of thanks and praise offer us a vision of a God that does justice not by imprisoning and ruining us who have done wicked things, but by setting us right as an act of steadfast love.

So, do prisons have a place in God’s kindom? What is the good news for the nearly 2 million people held as prisoners across our nation’s disparate “justice” system? That’s not to say there aren’t any who have done wicked things amongst those incarcerated. There certainly are. But the shalom Christ brings is one where all those created in God’s image can be restored to live free and whole. Shackles and cages neither heal the harmed or those who cause harm. As faithful people, we know that love and mercy can. We must create a justice system that centers restoration for all, not retribution. Until then, we are all prisoners.

Prayer

Inhale: Waiting, I hear Freedom calling.

Exhale: There are no cages in the kindom.