Bessie then prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. It was a simple prayer in an isolated wing of a North Carolina prison. No cameras were present; no confetti poured from the ceiling. Colson had only a few minutes with the suffering woman, but he made them count.
Before he left, he warmly embraced Bessie. It was a moment that symbolized the post-conversion narrative of Colson’s life; going into hard places to preach the gospel so that captives, lost and without hope just as he once was, might be freed.
Long before Colson ministered to prisoners, he found himself facing the very real prospect of becoming one. In June 1974, he was standing before a judge in a federal courtroom in Washington, DC. Colson was in the hands of the law. On June 21, 1974, Judge Gerhard Gesell would hand down his sentence.
Colson hoped and even expected when he entered the courtroom that fateful morning that he would be able to avoid going to jail. He was shocked when Gesell sentenced him to one to three years in prison and a fine of $5,000. His family was devastated. Months of prayer for release had not resulted in the end they desired. Colson was convicted of a felony. Colson’s verdict entered him into a category that, in the eyes of some onlookers, would forever define him: guilty.
At 43 years of age, Colson’s winning streak had ended. The man with an impeccable pedigree had crashed to earth. Numerous other members of the Nixon administration met similarly public fates for their roles in Watergate. No other official, however, had a friend offer to serve his sentence, as Al Quie of the Fellowship, a group of Christian men led by Doug Coe, did. Colson declined his generous offer, knowing that his conviction was his alone. He had been part of a group that had shaken the trust of the American people in the presidency. The nation would never be the same.
As later events make clear, Colson’s own life was forever altered. In 1976, Colson was singing copies of his autobiography, Born Again, when a wild-eyed young man approached him. Colson knew how to handle tough characters, but this one shook him. “I’ve been trying to decide if I’m going to kill you tonight,” the man said. “If you kill me … I’ll be with Jesus Christ,” Colson replied, praying as he stared back at his would-be assailant. Eventually, the man backed out of the bookstore and went on his way, never to cross paths with Colson again. The experience and others like it showed Colson that his public role had placed him in circumstances beyond his control. Some reacted to him with equanimity and fairness. Others refused to forgive him and even hated him for his deeds.
