Sadly, in addition to physical violence, one of the realities the students participating in the sit-ins faced was jail time. Indeed, during the fourth sit-in on February 27, 1960, 79 students were arrested. Yet, as John Lewis reflects, being arrested became on many levels a method of consecration and blessing of their fight against segregation. He states, "Growing up in the rural South, you learned it was not the thing to do. To go to jail was to bring shame and disgrace on the family. But for me it was like being involved in a holy crusade, it became a badge of honor."

The theme found in this week's Lenten lectionary text, Psalm 32, rings clear in the face of Lewis' re-envisioning his incarceration as a "badge of honor." Rather than finding self-worth in a corrupted legal system, Lewis was able to persevere in the knowledge of God's deliverance.