Working on the weekends

Shannon is now a Junior in High School, raising money for a hoped for trip to Europe. She has had my heart for a long time.

As I start my third month at Red Rock, I finally made the switch from Mon-Fri work to being with the men on programs days, Saturday and Sunday. We have four services running at the same time on Saturday, for Xn, Spanish Speaking Xn, Jehovah's Witness, and Mormon. On Sundays we have Xn and Catholic services.

I have been working for several weeks to get ready for the opening of the new Chapel next weekend. Begging, borrowing, and donating items to get an empty room ready for worship experiences. We put up four bulletin boards and a white board, and hung a TV on the wall for songs.  We have a jury rigged sound system for our praise band using two guitar amps and a boom box, all joined together with connecting cords.

The Xn worship services are maxed out, and the singing and serious listening are evident. I found the days without the activity of the classrooms to be quite pleasant, and I have had the opportunity to meet some families in the visitation room. This adds to my growing compassion for some of the men involved in our worship leadership.

With Laura working for a quarter, this commitment adds more to our time apart, but after one weekend I am sure I need to be there, and that my purpose for entering this type of ministry is being shown to me more clearly.  Saturdays and Sundays the drive up and down the commute are much easier.

So my Thursdays and Fridays are my new weekend, I get a round of golf, two days of later rising, and date night with my best friend, Laura.

Prison Life

Laura with her Mickey Retirement Wreath. We have enjoyed a lovely three day weekend.

Six weeks gone in my new life. I feel like I fit there. Prison life is living according to schedules, chow starts early, the six units take turns with the four recreation yards, including two ballfields to walk or run around. Over 60 percent of the men have jobs that keep the place running smoothly and every walk and floor clean as a whistle. Two half day classes in the program, weekly worship gatherings for each group, two non denominational services, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. Two counts during the day at 10:30 and 3:00, dinner in each unit is delivered instead of the chow hall, some rec. time at night but lights out at 10:30 and Beds made by 7:30. They have lots of reading time, lots of thinking time. Bible Studies in the units at night, some led by volunteers, some by prisoners, no prisoners are allowed to preach, one very gifted inmate leads the yoga class, the Narcotics Anonymous Group, and the small Buddhist gathering. He is writing a book on lowering stress in prison settings. ASU is going to  print it. He has a future outside.

I respond to phone calls about helping inmates, answer inmate letters, have an open door policy for short questions and visits, lots of paper work and emails back and forth, constant monitoring of the communication devices for signs of problems. Several lock downs a week when someone starts trouble or something goes missing. The officers run a tight ship, its very professional. Three shifts go 24 hours a day obviously unlike us in education and programs who keep daytime hours. I have eaten prison food three times, not great, but I have had worse at times.

So far one of the most interesting observations came to me from the head of Chaplains in Nashville. He said the primary character problem on inmates is arrested adolescence, they never grow up beyond instant gratification, selfish behavior, and blaming all their problems on others. This helps me to see when a man is ready to get his life together.  When they are, then the time in this place can really be correctional.  Drugs and broken homes, and gangs, all gang up to send the career offenders back again and again.

42, who knew!

My love at first sight romance celebrates 42 years next week. Who Knew!! Last night we ate Mexican and I had a Taco Salad, after which I began to enjoy the crispy bowl, during which my wife said, "you probably should not eat all the crust", at which I reminded her that she has been saying than for 42 plus years and I have never yet really obeyed her request. I paid for the Taco Salad, and I am eating all the Taco Salad, that's just the way I roll.
No, that's not me in the backgroud!!

My New Dysfunctional Family

Sometimes I feel like an old Edsel, they laughed at it, but it was just ahead of its time.

I have finished one month working in my new environment. On December 31st there was an accident on the road to the prison in an early morning fog. One female officer hit another with her car. He was on a small Scooter Bike. It was ruled accidental as she could not see his taillights and he was not going the speed limit. Two weeks before this young man had been awarded Employee of the Year. He never regained consciousness and bled out in the emergency room.

These are the tragedies that create families. The sadness and shock, the offering of comfort and counsel, the planning of the memorial service. I met the man once, we talked about the Bible and his living proofs of hell bound sinners. I liked him, and looked forward to working alongside him....not to be. Whatever happens after death is now his experience. We mourned together, and went back to work. So many people are uncomfortable around Chaplains, but they need us, and our perspective, and our gentle reminders that all flesh are like grass that wither away. I wept with them.

In corrections, the officers must have each others backs. We have red buttons on our walkie talkies that signal "man down", and everyone drops everything to go to his or her aid. On the day of the memorial, four times during inmate count, they called his number, waited, called again, waited, announced "man down", the end of his watch, and a rest in peace.  We all wept.