I'm Thinking, I'm Thinking!

A month ago, at a jail chaplains meeting, a guest posed this question:

What of my culture do I have to give up in order to become a Christian?

I've been mulling it over ever since.

He made the point that we expect other people living in other cultures to give up what is regular and normal about their lives to more easily be identified with our own (American, Western) culture and so to be Christian.


Working at the jail, I spend time in a different culture. The language may be familiar and there are common references and experiences we share, but it's a very different culture. "How to be a Christian" changes when people come to jail.

And I'm wondering if my own life should look different than it does because I choose to be a follower of Jesus.

What do I have to give up?

I don't have an answer yet. But I'm thinking about it.

For Easter

 e-nklings-revschuldheisz.blogspot.com

Post Resurrection 101

Luke 24:13-35

Awash in grief
we fled Jerusalem,
dust of that place
clinging to us
even as we ran.
No words
tears only
making me blind
once again.
When the stranger met us
I resented him,
hated him.
Could he not see the grief?
Or was he blind too?
He asked for our story
and in sobs
we threw words at him
in hopes of seeing his tears.
He was pleasant
compassionate
soft-spoken.
The rage of our grief
did not touch him.
He began quoting Scripture
line after line of stale
tired verses.
Did he not hear our grief?
For miles he ignored our weeping.
Evening
on the doorstep
of the familiar again
he finished with us and
turned to go.
My grief rose up
and captured him.
I dragged him inside the tomb
of our home.
Seated at our table
his memorized words
were useless.
We offered him our sorrow
on heaping plates.
He took them
at last.
He broke open before us
and rose again
fleeing the tomb.
He left us behind,
two messengers
blazing in the night.

~~Shannon O'Donnell

first published April 2001, National Catholic Reporter

Holy Week in Jail

It's been a busy month both inside and outside the jail. There's a new pope. "Nice to see someone smiling for a change," an officer said.





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 Then came the news that Pope Francis was headed to juvenile detention today for the washing of the feet.  That caused a flood of questions. Here's the story. As archbishop in Buenas Aires, Jorge Bergolio made a point of rolling up his sleeves and being a pastor face to face with the people. The stories come tumbling out.

So far, this is my favorite photo of him, sitting in the back of the chapel inside the guest house where he has chosen to live. He attends daily Mass with the people who work inside the Vatican, says a few words, eats in the dining room. This is not a man who is aloof and bound by custom. He wants to be around people. There is an example to be followed there and already it is spring.

Education for Felons?

Someone's thinking about it. You can read the editorial in the Seattle Times here. The comments, at least so far, are your average knee-jerk reaction. 

Things to consider: 95% of people in prison will eventually be released to the community. Do you want them homeless? or capable of holding down a job, paying taxes, contributing to the general good?

The number of people in prison who do not have a high school diploma or GED is astronomical. Good education reform that keeps kids in school, educates them in a variety of ways, makes them excited about lifelong learning, that's something I can support.

You must meet this man

His name is Avi Steinberg and he's brilliant.

And you have to read this book that he wrote.

 

Is that an amazing cover or what?? 

Made up of date stamps from the library.

He calls himself an "Accidental Prison Librarian." 

Every prison should have one.

More of him here: http://avisteinberg.com/

It's Lent and no, you can't...

No, you can't go on a 40 day fast.
      If you miss more than nine meals, that's called a food strike and you go to the hole. That's solitary confinement and you're likely to have to wear that lovely suicide onesie.

No, you can't have a copy of the Bible (Good News edition, New American, The Message, New King James) and the Qu'ran and the Book of Mormon and the Upanishads.
     And since you didn't return my copy of Dante's Inferno, I'm not sending you Purgatario. 

No, you can't have The Purpose-Driven Life or The Shack or Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul. We are all out, just like we told you in our responses to your requests for the last six months.        
      These books have not magically appeared on our bookshelves for your Lenten convenience.

No, you can't keep consecrated hosts wrapped in tissue and stashed under your mattress.
      But because you did that, you'll no longer be allowed to receive communion from the eucharistic minister. She won't be visiting you again either, since we discovered that you are already meeting with the Catholic chaplain, the Episcopal chaplain, and a Protestant chaplain.

No, you can't have a rosary. They're not allowed here. You can have the prayers, and you have your fingers, but those beads can make a person slip and crack their head on the cement floor, so no, no rosary here.
       No, not even the one you made out of bread and toothpaste and colored with the red M&Ms.

 No, I can't meet with you twice a week for an hour-long bible study. There are over one thousand people in jail right now, plus staff. Your own pastor wouldn't have that kind of time.
     Besides, what makes you think I know that much about the bible that could hold your attention for two hours a week?

No, you can't give up meat on Fridays for Lent. No, even if you're Catholic.
      How do you know it's meat you're eating?
     
What can you do for Lent?
      How about fasting from gossip or bragging about your crime? How about fasting from complaining to your family that they don't write or come see you often enough?
      Eat what you're given with thanks and without complaint.
      See this map? Close your eyes, pick a spot, sign your name. You're responsible to pray for the people there for the next six weeks. 

      The pope is retiring in two weeks. Pray for him. Pray for the cardinals who will choose the next pope. Pray for the Church that we have the courage and the humility to follow Jesus in all things.

And if there's still room on your prayer list, pray for your cranky Catholic chaplain who needs to get over herself once and for all.    

PS: Want to find your own spot to pray for? Go to www.ptocheia.net/globe and spin the globe!



 

 

Who'da Thunk It?

Okay, so you know that I sometimes have connections with the people I see in the jail. The guy who had the accent that sounded familiar? Turns out he was from New Orleans' Ninth Ward where I spent two years teaching back in the 1980s. We spent an hour talking about the neighborhood. He hadn't been back since before Katrina.

I ran into a few people at the prison who'd used the food bank at the parish where I worked in Tacoma in the 90s, though none admitted to being the guy who peed on the wall of the building across the parking lot from my window.

At the prison, I knew a man who'd lived in the town where I grew up in California. We lived there in different decades, but still, I don't run into people from that town. Ever.

And then there's this. I wrote a book about my mom and Alzheimer's. It's mostly stories about the last ten years since she moved to Washington. There are some stories about growing up, but I kept the focus on the last decade. Threw in some family pictures. The response from my family has been fun. Some of them hadn't known I was writing a book. Some had read earlier versions. But it's finally out there.

I got a phone call from a guy who's out of prison now, working hard to get his life on track. The woman he lives with brought home a copy of the book and he picked it up. Then he called me and said, "Hey, I worked at a liquor store with your brother back in California." He recognized my brother from the photo section. Yeah, that guy, the one who lived in that same town as I did, decades apart. 

As if I needed any further notice from the Universe that it is a very small world.

Interested in the book? Here's the Amazon page.