At a recent Keryx prison ministry weekend, I encountered two prisoners who are the inspiration for the first part of the title of this post. and the second half is a rather recognizable name. Allow me to explain.
It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that prisons are the price we pay for human sin. We, as a society, pay a terrible price for the crimes committed that result in incarceration. The price is not only financial, it is paid by families being ripped
apart, by death, pain, injury, emotional trauma of victims and so on. One price has to do with marriages.
The crimes committed by some of my friends themselves rip marriages apart. These men have murdered, resulting in broken marriages. They have raped, molested, robbed, dealt drugs, etc., all of which can and do result in marriages being destroyed. We cannot minimize the pain caused by these sins to the victims and their families. There is a price on the flip side as well.
It was interesting to encounter these two prisoners on the same weekend recently. Their stories and their involvement with me are vastly different, but they are both dealing with same issue right now.
Their wives want divorces. Both men have received “Dear John” news recently.
Both men are confused. One was married before he came to prison, the other became married while incarcerated. Both families have children. Both have wives who have now proclaimed they don’t want to wait for them to be released. Look at all the anguish caused by sin – we have wives, living without their husbands, trying to raise children by themselves. We have children, growing up without a father. We have fathers, separated from their children because of their own sinful actions. What a price we pay.
The second involves Mr. T. Woods, pro golfer extraordinaire. We have all seen the news accounts and now Mr. Woods has issued a public, though somewhat cryptic apology. What is interesting is the focus – it’s all on Mr. Woods. Are there not a wife and two small children involved? It is interesting to see how the media is already concerned with the PR “spin.” These headlines are taken from the CNN web site as I write this:
How much damage will Tiger Woods’ “transgressions” do to his brand?
Sports consultant on Tiger Woods
How Tiger Woods can survive scandal
What about his wife? His two small children, who may be too young to know what’s going in, but who someday will? Is it all about the “business” and the “brand?” These are real people dealing with real, difficult issues – issues we are not privy to (and which I may be jumping the gun by calling them “sin” – time may or may not tell) – but which may well involve sin that may cause serious issues of trust within a marriage and a family. Isn’t is sad that all of that takes a backseat to dollars and sense and public relations?
