Living on Death Row

"It is appointed unto man once to die." -- Hebrews 9:27

Mark Allen Wisehart understands that as well as anyone. Wisehart was sentenced to death on Sept. 26, 1983, for murder (Details here). Twenty-six years later, he still lives on Death Row in the state of Indiana. His hair is gray now, and the malice seen even in his 1994 mugshot is now replaced with wistfulness.

Wisehart was one of several men featured on MSNBC's Lockup a few years ago, an episode I only just caught over the weekend. In the TV interview, Wisehart said he thought death would come within five years and then it would all be over. Instead, he watched his "friends" die, knowing that his day was inevitably coming. He talks about hanging on to his sanity by a thread, and they even showed how he adopted a cat. Asked if the cat knew it was imprisoned, Wisehart said he knew cats preferred to roam free, but when the calico cat lifted its chin to be scratched or rubbed its head on his face, that was his connection to humanity.

Since that show aired, Wisehart had a federal appeals court overturn the sentence, but the law process continues. Wisehart technically no longer has a death sentence, but still lives on Death Row (or at least he did last year), knowing that any day could bring his freedom, be it life or death.

Few of us realize just how much we have in common with Wisehart. We are all living under a death sentence which may be carried out sooner or later. We are surely guilty of crimes against each other and our God -- though surely more discreet than those of a man on death row.

We've seen acquaintances come and go, sometimes wondering, 'Why them?' or 'Why not us?' Our sanity may occasionally hang by a thread, and we seek a connection to others. We search for it in bars and churches, in sporting events and on the internet, and even in pets.

And we all have also had our sentence overturned. Overturned by the execution of Jesus Christ and sealed by his resurrection. We have only to choose to file our appeal with God above.

And when we appeal, it means our eventual death will actually be our freedom and the start of life eternal.