Date: Tuesday, March 31st 
Scripture: Romans 6:14
“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
By Will Horst Re-entrant
As a young man, nearly five decades ago, I spent two years in prison. In the intervening years, I’ve often pondered the mystery of how it was that I turned a corner in my life way back then and never returned to prison like so many do. How did I do that, I’ve wondered. I could pat myself on the back and say that, well, I made up my mind that I wanted a better life, and then I did what I had to do to get it. But did I, really? We often hear the phrase “There but by the grace of God go I.” But do we really believe that?
We usually think of grace as a kind of gift from God. The word grace comes from the Latin gratia, which is also the root word for gratitude.
All those years ago, doors opened for me at opportune times. When I reached out for help, it seemed there would be a hand reaching back offering hope. Well, I opened those doors, you might say. I grasped the helping hand. Me. I did those things. But maybe the grace, the gift, was in being able to see the open door when it appeared, in being able to find the hand offering help, and then to be able to grasp it. If that’s true, then there’s nothing particularly special about me or anything I did. Nothing to congratulate myself for. There’s only gratitude. Gratitude for the “gift” of seeing. Gratitude for being able to find my way. That’s grace.
With gratitude comes humility. With humility comes compassion for those who perhaps aren’t able to see the open door or the helping hand because of fear, because of shame, or because of the traumas they’ve suffered. In gratitude there’s no room for blame, only for kindness and love.
Prayer: God, grant us the humility and gratitude to be compassionate towards those we interact with on a daily basis, and to all others who cross our paths. Amen.
Criminal Justice Fact: Pennsylvania spends more than 4 billion dollars annually to incarcerate its citizens.
Action: Find a re-entry coalition in your area and inquire about ways you can support them. For information for the Harrisburg area go here: http://www.reentrynow.org/membership-information.html
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