“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

I’ve often heard that when volunteering to help others, the blessings return tenfold to the giver. That is what happens with each and every KnoxCAM performance. The profound spiritual lesson that I learn from inmates and down-on-their-luck citizens reminds me that God lives with us in the moment, wherever that may be.
We can’t expect that things will always turn out how we desire; the stories of the men and women for whom KnoxCAM performs are a testament to that truth. Yet, I am always amazed at their sense of contentment for where they are in life. When I look out upon the audience, I am humbled by the serenity in the faces of the prisoners and homeless. With their eyes closed and perhaps swaying to a song, their countenances reflect God’s spirit of true freedom in their lives.
These prisoners we visit have learned how to trust God in the smallest moments. They seem to see more clearly, that God is still present and working through them even as their basic freedoms have been taken away.
I find myself quite lacking when it comes to being brave and having courage. I am thankful that as a member of KnoxCAM, I can learn from the men and women who view our performances, to trust Jesus and hope in Him in new ways.
A friend who died of cancer used to say, “I hope you can get what I’ve got, without getting what I’ve got.” A stark reminder that, even in the face of certain death, there is the certainty of eternal life as a believer in Jesus.
As I watch the grateful and contented faces of Christ’s followers in the audience at each KnoxCAM performance, I imagine they would say,
“I hope you can be where I am, without being where I am!”