I wanted to report on my visits last week with our dear friends Nancy Smith and Chris Spicer at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, GA. We were blessed to have around 90 minutes of visiting time both with Chris on Thursday morning Feb 3 and Nancy on Friday afternoon, Feb 4. Both expected to have been moved and were surprised to be there still. Maybe it was the winter storms around the country that slowed down their transfer, but who knows? Both visits were full and satisfying, and we suspect it will be the last time we will see each other for awhile, with the strong likelihood of their being moved most imminent.
Chris looked relaxed and content. Maybe it was the cotton long johns he had on underneath the prison jumpsuit or maybe it was my imagination, but he looked like there was more weight on him than the last time I saw him. My mental memory images are usually pretty good. We reviewed many of the usual topics which we spoke of before. I understood more clearly that he has been receiving mail more consistently with "mail call" as an event that only happens 2-4 days a week anyway. I was chagrined that Captain Paulk [at the prison] had NOT given him the Catholic Missalette which he had promised, and that Chris had missed keeping up with his Catholic roots through the readings.
We spoke about letter writing and how he likes to write down what's happening just a fast as he can to gather perspective. He desires more confidentiality for his prison companions out of respect for their privacy so that might require some editing, which we strategized about. We spoke of favorite poems and books, what inspires and sustains us. Chris is still pleased to be able to focus his ministry of presence with his fellow inmates. He feels greatly supported by the mail he gets and the solidarity of the White Rose CW Community in Chicago, his parents, and the network/blog that Anne is working for him.
Although disappointed that there is no opportunity for Catholic Eucharist, he feels content with the prayer and bible study group that he participates in with his dorm-mates. Teaching English as a second language, writing complaint letters for others, and serving in many "interpretive services" keep him busy. He mentioned that he tried to keep his personal profile uncomplicated and out of sight in many ways so that he could focus on serving others. So it wasn't until just the day before we spoke that he disclosed to some of them the real reasons for his being there in prison and what was going on at SOA in Columbus. His conclusion was that this was not at all problematic but rather helpful, so it seems that a new level of personal sharing was opening for him with the other inmates there. This is a good development, he feels, because he would like to focus more on what is happening at places like Ft. Benning and was wondering how to get around to it.
Of course, Nancy Smith had taken the opposite approach in her ministry of presence with her fellow inmates. She was aware that their attention span was limited, as to how much information they could hold about the SOA, so she would focus on stories that they would remember, e.g. about the massacres in El Salvador of families and the killing of the innocent babies: "Wow!" they would say and they would be more apt to remember. But because their literacy, education, and world view were so undeveloped she would have to do often what Chris was doing, just trying to accompany them in their own world conflicts and dramas.
Nancy said: "How tiny their lives are! Such a little village that they live in, of guns, pills and drugs. But it is all they know! Overwhelmingly poor, black and white. Mothers and daughters are in it together, whole families (in this little way of war making). They have huge screaming fights and then someone will tone it down and pray with the individual who is so upset. They are so VERY religious! The strong fundamentalist Baptist style of prayer in their prayer circle, loquacious and ever-so articulate about their needs and emotions to God. On the one hand so very abstemious in one minute and then guilty of petty theft in the next. Their emotional hair-triggers can go off at any time. ... "
When I told Nancy that she looked noticeable more tired this time, with the darkness around her eyes, she smiled humbly and acknowledged that when the word came around midnight that 5 of them would be leaving in two hours' time, there was a great deal of screaming and shouting as they emotionally were sorting themselves out in preparation for the move. And there was little way to get any rest while all that was going on. Until long after they departed, there was still quite a rumble. Nancy continues her disciplined manner of ministry of presence, her "open bowl" Buddhist approach of chosen "indigent status" so that she can be more simple and supple in attending to the needs of others. She practices a rare mindfulness which is a well-integrated presence, balancing her own vegetarian diet, inner-prayer, disciplined body exercise ("to get my heart rate up and sustained for a while"), quick wit and joyful self-knowledge in being "an oddity here." She was glad to hear that I gave her Quaker booklet manual and copy of the Sutras [which her granddaughter, Kirsten, had sent me] to Captain Paulk so that she might enjoy them, but immediately plotted with me as how to get them "out" when she left because "We can take nothing with us."
She was stunned at how little concern her fellow inmates could muster for the situation in Egypt. We shared about our travels in the middle east and her former work with Oxfam and other agencies there. She had made the pilgrimage of Santijago de Compostella and shared about the magnificent old churches she had visited, as well as the dying religious communities. How difficult to sustain faith without a true on-going encounter with the world and the need for justice everywhere! We shared a common hunger for the Eucharist that would go beyond the bounds of denominationalism. She hopes that "Kavita" is on her e-mail list [can someone follow up on this?]. Then we enjoyed "gasho" [bowing 3 times with palms together in reverence for the other] and departed.
So that's the report about Ocilla. Hopefully I can get through the lack of hospitality at McRae and tell you something next week about Michael David Ormondi. Blessings of peace to all in our network of support for these beloved prisoners of conscience.
Fr. Bob
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