THE CELL
The door closed in my face and I heard the lock turn. I saw that the cell was empty and small.
One bed was placed against the wall, a lone piece of furniture
No mattress, no pillow , no blanket
A bed that offered no warmth or comfort
I gingerly sat on the bed but the steel coils were cold against my body
The room was cold and dark with a dim light coming from a small high window
I stood up by the bed.
I imagined the young girls who had lain on that bed before me
The loneliness of the thought filled me with sadness
Lost souls, homeless and afraid
I felt their lostness like a presence residual in the room
I walked over to the wall and squinting in the darkness I could see scribblings on the wall
Were they made in someone's blood?
No pens or pencils were allowed in that cell.
I heard a soft crying a soft moaning
Footsteps in the hall outside the room
Soft sounds and movements that made my skin crawl
The room was cold, so I curled up in a fetal position on the cold floor
The cold and the darkness and the sheer loneliness
Threatened to overwhelm me
I fell asleep /J. Smith/Outside the Gate
I have more questions then answers
I am just the storyteller
Paul, alone and frail sits alone in prison and pens a letter to his beloved Timothy
"At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them."
"Demas, because he loved this world has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica
May it not be held against them."
Titus is gone"
"Only Luke is with me
The cloak I left with Carpus
When you come, bring with you and the books and parchments." /2 Timothy
"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering and the time of my death is here."
Tradition believes that soon he would walk firmly
Frail and old under the blazing sun
To the place of the three fountains and lay his head down
But his voice still resonates through the darkness.
"For your sake we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
No, in all these things we are more then conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels nor principalities,
Neither the present or the future or any powers will be able to separate s from the Love of God
which is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 8: 36-39
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which The Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day
And not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." 2 Timothy 4: 7-8
" I have trodden the winepress alone" Isaiah 63:3
"Behold the hour is coming and is already come, for you to be scattered each to his own home, and to leave me alone.
And yet I am not alone.
Because The Father is with me." John 16:32
**
Why I should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me. Civilla D. Martin, 1905
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2
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