I took a friend with me to visit a prisoner in a federal “correctional institute” last week. My friend is a former Ohio State prof, a published author, and a member of my Men’s Bible Study. We’ve been praying for several years for “P,” who is serving eight years for attempted murder.

The three-hour drive was a pleasant one, despite the lousy weather. The prof and I got to swap stories, talk about our families, how we met our wives, all kinds of interesting—at least to us—stuff.

When we arrived at last at the prison, we were confronted by a mocking prison guard. He very quickly told the prof he could not enter the prison. His paperwork—dutifully filled out—had not yet been processed. Even though P had written me saying he’d very much like to have the prof visit, that did not matter.

The guard looked me over suspiciously. He took an inordinate period of time to “study” my ID card. He quickly banned my cell phone and car keys. OK, I can understand why they’re not allowed. The prof would take them back to my car and wait there for me while I went in to see P.

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