ENTRIES

Entry #1 (06/27/24) – “The Humanness We All Share”

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Isabella Wilburn. I’m an eighteen-year-old entering my freshman year of college at a school eight hours away from my hometown. This summer has been transformative. My life and how I view it has drastically changed: I am more confident than ever in who I am, whose I am, and who I want to become.

This blog idea came in a dream. One of my favorite authors whom I read daily through my devotions is Annie Downs. The title comes from Matthew, and religious or not, I am sure you have heard the prayer: “Our Father…” So like the ‘Daily Post,’ why not create the ‘Daily Bread’ where I authentically share my experiences in relation to my walk with God?

I thought I’d begin with an experience I had a couple of days ago. I intern at the Prosecutor’s Office in the Juvenile Division where I have learned and found a love for law. We had the opportunity to tour the county jail, and of course, I took advantage of it. Little did I know what an impact this tour would have on me and my perspective on life.

I walked through the automatic locked door with a lieutenant and captain leading the group. Before viewing the inmates’ quarters they did their best to warn us, but nothing could prepare me for the moment I looked through the mirrored windows to find people living with zero privacy or in locked cells. Their state-mandated fresh air is a room with barricaded windows. Some of them don’t go outside for years.

While others on the tour found ways to peer at these people like animals at a zoo exhibit and even one of the officers joked that he ‘should’ve brought us popcorn.’ I was silent (and for me, that’s rare). I understand that for most (some are detained without being guilty yet) they are in there for a reason for a decision they consciously or subconsciously made, but being an empath made this experience hard for me. Imagine not seeing the world, or only being able to see your family through a tablet (this jail doesn’t allow for in-person visits) for weeks. It just made me reflect on what it means to be human and what makes us better than animals locked in a cage.

A wise friend asked me why God made humans and I was stumped before turning to the Bible. God made us to rule over other creatures, but when was the moment we humans began to rule over our own kind? When did we agree that in society, others deserve more respect and honor than those on the streets? No one here on Earth is perfect. No one. The range of our mistakes may differ, but we all have beating hearts and an opportunity to change who we want to be each day. Let us all take life one day at a time, for God gives us the daily bread we need to survive.