Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s mother told him when he was a child, “For every scripture you learn, Barry, I'll give you a nickel.” A nickel might not seem like much, but to a young child growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s it was enough for "the big Snickers," he says. He got so good at it that his mother had to cap him at 25 cents a week.
The mother's wisdom in that moral training came sharply into focus when two young friends knocked on his door one day and invited him to come with them "to get back at someone." He had previously memorized Proverbs 1:10: "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." He said that scripture clearly echoed in his mind and declined their invitation.
He saw later on the news the killing that occurred that day and the following arrests of those two same friends. He followed the trial that came and the lifelong incarceration that would be their sentence, keenly aware of the freedom the scripture had earned him.
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