Jesus Christ is “my only comfort in life and in death.” Those words are from Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism, a summary of the Christian faith I first read while in solitary confinement. They were words I’d come to treasure more and more throughout my remaining years in prison.


After I was released from solitary confinement,
I was assigned to a minimum-security facility near Houston, Texas. Compared to other places I’d been, it felt more like a college campus than a prison.


One day the relative serenity of the Ramsey I Unit was broken when the man in the next cell tried to attack my cellmate. Putting myself between them, I was cut in two places on my arm. After being treated in the infirmary, I was sent back to solitary confinement while the incident was investigated.


I paced my cell in near despair. Where was the Lord in all this? Turning to the Psalms, I found comfort in Christ. He assured me in His Word that no matter what happened, He would always be with me as my only comfort in life and death.