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October-November 2014 Contest > *1st Place* "Forgiveness" - October-November 2014 Contest

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message 1: by Sydney (last edited Nov 30, 2014 10:49PM) (new)

Sydney (sydneypaigemccutcheon) | 38 comments Inspired by: TobyMac's song "Forgiveness"
Word Count: 1150


"Forgiveness"


The prison looked cold from the outside. A square beige building with iron fences humming with electricity and black specks every couple of feet where the guards stood expressionless.
The young man walking toward front entrance, two sets of guards on his left and right, gazed at the familiar surroundings. Shaved head, tattoos circling behind his ear to the back of his prickly scalp, and another series of smaller tattoos lining his arms, he seemed tough without having to try except that he was so skinny. The black t-shirt he wore hung loose against him as well as his baggy jeans, their ends covering majority of his sneakers. He carried no bags or belongings. He went in with nothing and came out the same.
Coming up to the last fence to freedom, the guards motioned to the guards in the towers above, their rifles ready for any outbreakers. They hit the release button and the electric gates slowly proceeded to open. But the young man didn’t move.
Before him was freedom, before him was a life he didn’t know what to expect of.
“Come on, kid,” one of the guards said.
The young man complied, moving forward, but inside he shook, fear of what lied ahead creeping its way into his heart. Would there be anyone there waiting for him on the other end? Should he go see his family after what he did? Would they even be able to look him in the eye or would they just turn with shame, shaking their head? He deserved it after what he did.
The Warden of the prison met him with a bus pass, a few bucks, and the address of a halfway-house. “Good luck, son,” he said, his voice hard but honest, matching his face.
“Thank you, sir,” the young man replied, looking down. He recalled the day he punched the Warden in the face. It got him a week in isolation, something the other inmates were surprised by the short length. But the Warden told him the day after his isolation release that God had told him only one week, nothing more. Hard-hearted for so many years, the young man would soon burst into tears when the Warden gave the answer as to why God would say such a thing.
“He told me you lived your whole life in darkness. Now it was time to show you the light.”
Getting ‘saved’ never meant anything to the young man. What was ‘saved’? ‘Saved’ from what? Only when he cried for the first time since childhood to the Warden, his echoes bouncing off prison walls, did he grasp what salvation truly was. Not just a pass out of hell. Hell, he’d be first to admit, he deserved. But Jesus, when He died on the cross and rose again, gave the young man so much more than just eternal life in heaven. He washed clean of all the bad that had been in him, all the bad that ate at him day and night, and the bad others had instilled in him. Anger had been his way of dealing with it, but Jesus washed the anger out of him too until he was completely empty of himself and completely full of Jesus Christ.
Prison life hadn’t become easier but from that day he walked on a different level. God had lifted him up, and he could live again without the weight of his past and the weight of the world holding him down.
The Pastor at the prison taught him to go day by day with God. Not to rush, not to trip over his own feet, but to take it slow. Reading his bible every day and not worrying about how many pages he got through but how many pages got through him. He kept quiet most of time, and only really spoke when he was singing the few praise songs he learned. The Pastor said that some believed praise moved God more than requests of prayer. Praise was faith that God had already answered the inner prayers.
Then the day of his release came and he didn’t want to go.
“You have to go,” the Pastor told him with a smile. “It’s appointed, don’t worry. God had this date set from the beginning.”
“Date for what?” the young man asked.
“For when you would enter this world again as a new man. Your conversion and transformation happened in prison, in closed doors. The outside world doesn’t know this, hasn’t seen it yet. But now is the time for them to take a look at the new man. You were a Saul when you came in here but now you are a Paul going out.”
“Would if I fail?”
The Pastor chuckled, surprising him. “A righteous man may fall seven times but he shall get up again. Jesus Christ made you righteous, it isn’t by your effort. Your job is to stick close to Jesus, to read His word, to pray, to praise, and to love people.”
“I don’t know if I can—”
“The Word of God says you can. The devil don’t want you to know that, but just keep reading the Word, just keeping praying to God, just keep praising, just keep holding on. God is holding onto you.”
The Pastor gave a few scriptures for the young man to read and think over, but before the two gave their official goodbyes, the boy confessed,
“I don’t think they’ll ever forgive me for what I did.”
The Pastor looked into the young man’s eyes and pressed his finger against his heart. “Show them the new man. Show them Jesus inside of you.”
The parking lot had a good number of cars and the young man, after shaking hands with the Warden, noticed a familiar black Cadillac and an older man standing outside the driver’s door.
Pausing a moment to catch his breath, the young man pressed forward, until closing the gap between him and the older man by a foot. He wanted to speak but the words couldn’t come out.
The older man’s eyes started to fill with tears, and in one swift moment he pulled the younger man into his arms and hugged him tight. “I love you, son.”
The younger man cried, wrapping his arms around his dad. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”
After a few more moments of tears, they got into the car, headed for home. The young man realized that all the while God had been working in him, all the years God had been taking him through and showing His love for him, that God had been working on his family, too. And that night at dinner, surrounded by family and even old friends, the young man had everyone join hands as he said a prayer and gave thanks for all God had done and was going to do in their lives.
“Amen.”


message 2: by Kathleen (new)

Kathleen | 36 comments Is the warden also a pastor? I like that you don't really name the characters, I don't know why but it gives you a detached feeling- like you're watching it happen from above. Also, how it ends in "Amen" like the whole story was the main character talking to God.

Awesome description of the jail.


message 3: by Sydney (new)

Sydney (sydneypaigemccutcheon) | 38 comments No, I saw the Warden and the Pastor as two different people.

Thanks for the feedback!

Sydney


message 4: by Lena, Shot through the heart, and you're to blame (last edited Dec 10, 2014 07:07PM) (new)

Lena (lenakarynn) | 1526 comments Mod
And Sydney is the winner!!!!!!!! Congratulations!! You did an outstanding job with a powerful portrayal of forgiveness!!


message 5: by Melanie (new)

Melanie Kilsby (realitywriter) | 18 comments Good Job Sydney


message 6: by Sydney (new)

Sydney (sydneypaigemccutcheon) | 38 comments Oh my goodness! Yay thank you so much! All the stories were really great :) So exciting!
God inspired me and I am thankful I got to write it out!


message 7: by Sydney (new)

Sydney (sydneypaigemccutcheon) | 38 comments Melanie wrote: "Good Job Sydney"

Thank you Melanie!


message 8: by Kathleen (new)

Kathleen | 36 comments Congrats, Sydney! I know it's a little late, but...


message 9: by Sydney (new)

Sydney (sydneypaigemccutcheon) | 38 comments That's okay Kathleen! Thank you! :)


message 10: by Kathleen (new)

Kathleen | 36 comments :)


message 11: by Brianna, So get up. Get up and FIGHT BACK. (new)

Brianna (briannagpeterson) | 109 comments Mod
I'm late also, but congrats Sydney! Awesome job!


message 12: by Sydney (new)

Sydney (sydneypaigemccutcheon) | 38 comments Thank you Brianna! :)


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