From the "Inside"

My brother, Chris, is a prof at Drew University. He just did a teaching gig inside a medium security prison. His "take" from this experience impacted me, so I thought I would share it with you.
The most powerful part of the experience was leaving, after 3 hours of great hospitality and conversation. [We realized] that as soon as we left, they would have to go back into survival mode and re-enter the system where they are no more than a number. Simply by being present we had created a small bubble of time wherein they could feel themselves being treated as human beings. This suddenly made so much sense of Jesus' enduring concern for the prisoner, and the inclusion of the prisoner in his teaching about what the Kingdom of God means - that we are to include and treat the prisoner as our neighbor, whether they deserve to be in prison or not (I don't think Jesus makes any qualifications here), because it is the prisoner who has their "neighbor" status deliberately and explicitly revoked and denied by society (again, even if deservedly so).