Hey folks, finally letters from Chris have arrived! I am literally swamped with his letters both to me and others. In time I will get them up on the blogs. Here is page 2 of a letter Chris sent me (read the more personal page 1 here). It talks about the people to whom he is ministering in the prison. I did change the names of people to protect identities. God bless Chris! He is a beautiful spirit!
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Dear Anne,
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under feet, and turn again and rend you." (Mt 7:6) I ask you, how do I distinguish myself from the swine? My answer: Be Love. To the extent that I return good for evil and love my enemy I rise to fuller stature as a Christian person. The society in which a Christian finds himself imprisoned among the scorned, a society judged by how it treats the least of these, must as to receive correction if wise and God fearing. With love for the society in which I live, convinced it wise, I plead with it to mend, become wiser. The judgment against me is from a dog that bites the hand that feeds it. Although I cannot ignore my present circumstance nor the pains I incur by this judgment, God's gift of the Holy Spirit instructs me in the delight of suffering with the least. I befriend and enjoy the company of men in my housing unit; by experience I know the blessing they are to this world, each a man made in the image and likeness of God.
I present to you Dave Sanders who left drug dealing on the streets two years ago. He had nearly completed a bachelors in computer and electrical engineering when arrested recently. He admits that a call would ring, that bills had to be paid, and he answered the call. I enjoy the content of his character at our nightly Bible study and his defense in tonight's discussion of the above passage of the abundant charity of God and the instruction to "give and give again." Inside he forgives himself, harbors a humor that his torn groin muscle does not dampen, and surprises me tonight with joy by asking me to teach him Spanish. His five year old son takes after him with intelligence, already in the first grade. They were inseparable.
I present to you Eric, at first a grim cold figure who then complemented the style of my glasses. Already intimidated my alarm bells rang. His consistent good advice won me over though, and I confessed to him my initial impression but how now he reminded me of my favorite boss Fr. Kevin Connell, SJ. Although it is my strict policy to say nothing why I am here (beyond how picayune the sentence is), I made exception to share with hi a letter that indirectly gave him context. He asked for a Powerade, I gave him two, and now he is my sworn defender. Speaking with wrenching sincerity he revealed the pain of his 57 months: missing his son. "Eight years sleeping beside me in my bed, and now it's been seven months and we've talked but once. Every day I wake up sick in the heart." When he gets home he vows to live the straight and narrow: "I will eat beans the rest of my life."
What make both Dave and Eric special is their relationship with God. A weaker man could not hold fast to the truth of a loving God who gave his only son for us and our salvation. These men face the separation of their time apart from their sons as a challenge and a gift. As Joe put it: "Prison can't break my soul." It reminded me of William E. Henley's poem "Invictus:"
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I give thanks to whatever God's may be for my unconquerable soul.
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul
Chris
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