The prison within

This is also well worth reading. An excerpt that struck me:

He behaved as if his need was the only real thing in the world  — as if he were alone.  He may not have been in prison, but he was a lost soul.  In being convicted, he has a chance to repent — to regain his life, to become part of the community, albeit with anguish and regret.
Where Kwiatkowski has landed, we all must arrive at some point:  at the inescapable truth that we are all part of the family of man.  Evil ripples outward; but good does, too.

How often do we behave as though we are alone, and our needs and pleasures the only reality? There is only one truly meaningful prison, and that is the one we create for ourselves when we cut ourselves off from our own humanity.