Freedom-Cry

In my 21 years of incarceration, I have been visited by various angels in human form. These are men and women who quite literally take God’s command to visit the prisoners as part of their life’s work. These are also the folks who help us make life in prison more bearable.

I recall Jane Davis, a Jewish woman who visited men all over the United States on death row. She also had a ministry in the prison. Jane came to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta to meet with Jews and others. She fed us both spriritually and with food for religious meals. She new runs a home called HOPE House in Arizona. The men and women that have been touched by Jane are many.

There were also men and women from my Catholic faith group. Louann Bachner, (PhD, Emory University in Atlanta), came in all her sweetness and taught an inter-Christian faith group. Her love was a true expression of Jesus Christ. Archbishop John Francis Donoghue of Atlanta came to give us men, the Christmas Mass and he soon became a personal friend of mine. I was named a Eucharistic Minister by him for more than nine years. Deacons Enrique Galvis and Richard Tolcher regularly showed us Jesus Christ in their actions. There was:

• a female Buddhist priest; the men and women of multiple Kairos groups
• Kairos retreats for three days (countless men have been affected by the tremendous outpouring of love during these special occasions)
• two beautiful and dedicated women who gave us classes in Centering prayer in FCI Coleman;
• now a series of Catholic Laity who give the prisoners communion service every week here at FCI Butner.

I remember with fondest feelings such men and women in the prison reform who showed us their love and concern by their activism:

• Sherry Grace, the founder and coordinator of Mothers for Incarcerated Sons (MIS)
• Nora Callahan, the dynamo behind Razor Wire
• John Flahive of the We Believe Group
• Kenny Lin and Mark Varca of FedCURE
• Diane Landigham of Lady Justice
• Numerous ladies from NAACP

These are all part of my list of angels. The list would not be complete without mentioning Rabbi Lehrmann of the Liscitivists who taught me basics of Judaism and made me a better Christian with his teachings.

I could not have survived these 21 years with a sane mind without these men and women who worked through the Holy Spirit to make me feel God’s closeness even in the worst moments. I have learned that our spiritual freedom remains and may even be strengthened by such physical worldly constraints such as prison. I have read about the surviving victims of the German Holocaust who asked for God during some of the worst torture. I have read Victor Frankel and Anne Frank’s books on the persecution they endured. I have studied what Mandela said about his 27 years of incarceration. I only can conclude what my religion and my God shows me, best summed up with three words, Faith, Love and Hope. For prisoners, the most important is hope.