Criminal Minds

A somewhat new word in my almost weekly vocabulary is the word "recidivism". This new word means to relapse especially referring to criminal behavior. In Alabama this year, our prisons will release 10,000 inmates and take in 11,000. Presently, Alabama is home to more than 25,000 men and women in our correctional facilities. A staggering 80% of these inmates have addiction issues and more than 60% are illiterate. Of those 10,000 that will be released in the year 2008... somewhere between 30% and 40% will end up back behind bars. That is mind-boggling... 3,000 to 4,000 will re-offend and end up back in prison...many for the remainder of their natural life.

Oddly enough, many of these men and women are not bad people (not to be mistaken for the hard-core murdering type). But for some reason or reasons, they get caught in a life-rut and can't seem to find their own way out. Many of these men and women have families who love and miss them terribly. Some of them may have lived on your street. Some of them you may have grown up with or even went to school with... maybe you at one time even went to church with them.

I wonder about the thieves that hung next to Jesus? What was their story... did they have families, a one time promising future? What about the guys in prison with Paul & Silas? What bad decisions led them to a cold 8x6? Back to the word "recidivism"... I wonder if spiritual recidivism exists? Is this what happens when someone gets caught in the traps of repetitive sin? Is it bondage? Is it something far deeper than we even like to acknowledge? The truth is that there is an evil one known as Lucifer who is actively seeking to destroy us all. Little by little, over and over again... he wants to destroy and to distract.

Spiritual recidivism?