{"id":3544,"date":"2018-11-12T07:36:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T12:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544"},"modified":"2018-11-12T07:36:56","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T12:36:56","slug":"hopeless-criminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544","title":{"rendered":"Hopeless Criminal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 I am so MAD!<\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Calm down.<\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 I’m fixin’ to knock you forty miles west of younder.<\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Maybe I should pray and then remind you of the prison system.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is from the book Beyound Our Selves by Catherine Marshall<\/p>\n

It was the year 1924.\u00a0 In a courtroom in the Midwest, the judge’s voice was grave as he looked down at the prisoner standing before him.\u00a0 “I am about to sentence you to a major prison for the third time.\u00a0 I know you are sick.\u00a0 And I know that more punishment is not the remedy.\u00a0 But your record leaves me powerless.”<\/p>\n

And so “hopeless criminal” was society’s judgment of Starr Daily.\u00a0 The verdict seemed justified.\u00a0 At sixteen Starr’s only ambition had been to build a reputation as a dangerous man.\u00a0 He dreamed of the time when the police would refer to him with a shudder.<\/p>\n

He achieved his aim by becoming the leader of a gang of safe crackers.\u00a0 There was no safe he could not open, no time lock he could not take apart.\u00a0 But finally liquor make him careless, and he was caught.<\/p>\n

There followed fourteen year of penal farms, chain gangs, and two extended penitentiary sentences.\u00a0 Through all that time Starr’s father never lost hope that his son might be redeemed from his life of crime.\u00a0 His best efforts failed.\u00a0 He lived to see his Starr re-enter prison for the third time.\u00a0 Starr never saw his father after that.\u00a0 The broken-hearted man died with a prayer for his son on his lips.<\/p>\n

In prison Starr made two futile attempts to escape.\u00a0 Then he evolved a plan to instigate a prison riot.\u00a0 The deputy warden was to be seized and used as a shield and hostage.\u00a0 A stool pigeon betrayed the plan, and Starr was sentenced to the dungeon.<\/p>\n

Most strong men could not survive “the hole” for more than fifteen days.\u00a0 American prisons years ago could be grim and brutal places.\u00a0 It was winter, and the walls of the dank cell seeped moisture.\u00a0 At six every morning, the prisoner would be given a piece of bread and a cup of water.\u00a0 Then he would be left hanging in handcuffs for twelve hours.\u00a0 At six in the evening, he would be let down for the night and given another piece of bread and another cup of water.<\/p>\n

Starr survived fifteen days of this.\u00a0 By the last day in the cuffs, he could no longer stand on feet black with congealed blood.\u00a0 That morning “the Bull”- the keeper of the hole- had to list the almost un conscious man into the cuffs.<\/p>\n

For weeks after that, the prisoner was allowed to lie on the icy stone floor–emaciated, unspeakable filthy, near death.\u00a0 He lost track of time.\u00a0 Mired in the lowest hell imaginable, only hate was keeping him alive- hate for the Bull, hate for the deputy warden who had vowed that he would force Starr to crawl to him like a dog, begging mercy.<\/p>\n

Then there came a moment when the man on the floor was too weak to hate.\u00a0 Through that momentary opening crept a strange new thought:\u00a0 All of my life I have been a dynamo of energy.\u00a0 What might have happened if I had used that energy for something good?<\/p>\n

Then the thought faded. It’s too late now; I’m dying.\u00a0 There followed a half-walking, half-sleeping state of unconsciousness: moments of delirium, times of awareness.<\/p>\n

This was followed by disconnected dreams, like mists floating across the brain.\u00a0 Time was no more. The prisoner was aware no longer of the frozen stone floor, of his filth, or of anyone who came or went.<\/p>\n

Finally, the dreams began to take on meaning, to become rational in form and sequence.\u00a0 Suddenly Starr seemed to be in a garden.\u00a0 He knew that he had been in this same garden before–many times in childhood.\u00a0 It was in a shoe-shaped valley surrounded by gentle hills.\u00a0 At one end of the garden a great white-gray jutted out.\u00a0 Then Jesus Christ, the Man whom he had been trying to avoid all his life, was coming toward him.\u00a0 Now He stood face to face with Starr, looking deep into his eyes as if penetrating to the bottom of his soul.\u00a0 Love of a quality that he had never before felt was drawing the hate out of his heart, like extracting poison from an infected wound.<\/p>\n

With a strange clarity, one part of Starr’s mind thought I am submerged in Reality, I’ll never be the same again, now through all eternity.<\/p>\n

There followed another dream in which all the people Starr had ever injured passed before his eyes.\u00a0 One by one, he poured out his love to them.<\/p>\n

Then all who had injured him appeared, and on them too he bestowed the love needed to restore and to heal.\u00a0 The love flowed from beyond him, poured through him in a torrent of caring and ecstatic gratitude.<\/p>\n

When the prisoner returned to consciousness, the cell did not look the same.\u00a0 Its grim grayness was gone.\u00a0 For him it was illuminated with a warm light.\u00a0 His feelings too were different. The prison environment no longer had the power to give him pain, only joy.<\/p>\n

The next things Starr knew, the door opened and the Bull said in a tone of voice Starr had never before heard him use, “Are you hungry?\u00a0 I could steal a sandwhich from the kitchen and bring it to you.”<\/p>\n

The prisoner started in amazement.\u00a0 But he was even more startled at his own reply, “No, don’t do that.\u00a0 Don’t risk your neck by breaking a rule for me.”<\/p>\n

It was the Bull’s turn to be astonished.\u00a0 He went off wonderingly, came back with the doctor, and Starr was carried to the prison hospital.\u00a0 Through a swift and surprising series of events, prison doors swung open for Starr Daily in March 1930, five years ahead of time set for his release.<\/p>\n

From this man who had only a sixth-grade education have come eight books.\u00a0 He has lectured all over the nation.\u00a0 His knowledge of the criminal mind has contributed to valuable rethinking of prison techniques.\u00a0 He has personally been the Holy Spirit’s vehicle for the reclamation of scores of criminals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Proverbs 3:34<\/p>\n

Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n

www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n

www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Prodigal:\u00a0 I am so MAD! Me:\u00a0 Calm down. Prodigal:\u00a0 I’m fixin’ to knock you forty miles west of younder. Me:\u00a0 Maybe I should pray and then remind you of the prison system.   This is from the book Beyound Our Selves by Catherine Marshall It was the year 1924.\u00a0 In a courtroom in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHopeless Criminal - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hopeless Criminal - The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Prodigal:\u00a0 I am so MAD! Me:\u00a0 Calm down. Prodigal:\u00a0 I’m fixin’ to knock you forty miles west of younder. Me:\u00a0 Maybe I should pray and then remind you of the prison system.   This is from the book Beyound Our Selves by Catherine Marshall It was the year 1924.\u00a0 In a courtroom in the … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-12T12:36:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-12T12:36:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979-169x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Van Allen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Van Allen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\"},\"headline\":\"Hopeless Criminal\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-12T12:36:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-12T12:36:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544\"},\"wordCount\":1065,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/04\\\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979-169x300.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544\",\"name\":\"Hopeless Criminal - The Prodigal Pig\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/04\\\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979-169x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-12T12:36:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-12T12:36:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/04\\\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/04\\\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979.jpg\",\"width\":2988,\"height\":5312},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=3544#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hopeless Criminal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Prodigal Pig\",\"description\":\"Encouraging Your Walk With God\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hopeless Criminal - The Prodigal Pig","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hopeless Criminal - The Prodigal Pig","og_description":"  Prodigal:\u00a0 I am so MAD! Me:\u00a0 Calm down. Prodigal:\u00a0 I’m fixin’ to knock you forty miles west of younder. Me:\u00a0 Maybe I should pray and then remind you of the prison system.   This is from the book Beyound Our Selves by Catherine Marshall It was the year 1924.\u00a0 In a courtroom in the … Continue reading →","og_url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544","og_site_name":"The Prodigal Pig","article_published_time":"2018-11-12T12:36:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-12T12:36:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979-169x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Jennifer Van Allen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Van Allen","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544"},"author":{"name":"Jennifer Van Allen","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4"},"headline":"Hopeless Criminal","datePublished":"2018-11-12T12:36:45+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-12T12:36:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544"},"wordCount":1065,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979-169x300.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544","url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544","name":"Hopeless Criminal - The Prodigal Pig","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979-169x300.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-12T12:36:45+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-12T12:36:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170204_140439-e1510940207979.jpg","width":2988,"height":5312},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=3544#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hopeless Criminal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/","name":"The Prodigal Pig","description":"Encouraging Your Walk With God","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4","name":"Jennifer Van Allen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jennifer Van Allen"},"url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?author=1"}]}},"views":686,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3544"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4637,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544\/revisions\/4637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}