Humanity for Prisoners

As we begin a new year, I’d like to dissect a beautiful prayer found in the 1892 Book of Common Prayer that focuses on incarcerated men and women. The precious words of the prayer are in Italics. My inserts are in bold print. O GOD, who sparest when we deserve punishment, and in thy wrath rememberest mercy; We humbly beseech thee, of thy goodness to comfort and succour all those who are under reproach and misery in the house of bondage;     (There are a pproximately 11,5 million people behind bars in the world,1.8 million in the United States, and nearly 33,000 right here in Michigan!)   correct them not in thine anger, neither chasten them in thy sore displeasure.   ( The United States has had a "tough-on-crime" policy since the 1970s that has shamefully led to longer prison sentences, more people in prison, and numerous additional consequences: increased incarceration, extreme sentences, racial disparities, inadequate legal counsel, and backlogged courts. An...

Organizations are making their final appeals for year-end donations, especially those agencies focused on the animal kingdom. There are organizations to rescue cats and dogs, to offer adoption of puppies and kittens, to save endangered species…and the list goes on and on.   I must first make clear that I’m not condemning or even making light of such organizations. I know that when it comes to all creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.   But, God also created every incarcerated man and woman; created them in his very own image.   I’m going to talk about dollars here for a few minutes…not my favorite topic. One of my friends says he’d rather clean toilets then to ask for money. A preacher friend says he’d rather prepare a sermon on the 7 th Commandment than to expound on church budget needs.   HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS has a goal of $72,000 for our year-end appeal. Money has been raised by our Development Committee to match all year-end gifts. If...

Louis Cassels was one of my favorite news writers. A Washington Correspondent for UPI for many years, he later came its national religion writer. In 1959 he wrote a parable for UPI that will last forever. I was News Director of WJBL in Holland when I first tore that copy off our newsroom teletype machine and aired it. For the next 25 years my listeners, first in Holland and then in Grand Haven, heard me read this parable at Christmas time. Today, as the founder of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS, I share this beautiful story on Christmas Eve as my gift to you.   Now the man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge; he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. He was generous to his family and upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that stuff about God becoming a man, which the churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise   “I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’...

I’d like to share a beautiful story...a story not written by me.   I feel certain that Luis Ramirez would be honored to have us pass along what he has written, but I can't ask him.   He's dead.   This message came to me from Texas Death Row in the early days of HFP. I was so touched by the experience that I vowed to keep the story alive. We generally re-publish it during the holiday season. May it remind us, again, that the names on death row represent real people. And, that the death penalty is dead wrong! Anyway, here’s my gift to you today...a story from the late Luiz Ramirez: (In all caps, just the way he sent it)   I CAME HERE IN MAY OF 1999...A TSUNAMI OF EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS WERE GOING THROUGH MY MIND.   I REMEMBER THE ONLY THINGS IN THE CELL WERE A MATTRESS, PILLOW, A COUPLE SHEETS, A PILLOW CASE, A ROLL OF TOILET PAPER AND A BLANKET.   I REMEMBER SITTING THERE, UTTERLY LOST.   THE FIRST PERSON I MET THERE WAS NAPOLEON BEASLEY.   ...

I’m in my car running errands today (yes, at age 88, I can and may still drive, thank you!), the radio is on, and of course it’s December, so I’m hearing Christmas music. As many of you know, I’m an old radio broadcaster, so when Burl Ives came on singing “Have a Happy, Jolly Christmas,” it felt like old times. We played that tune every season when I was in that business. But, it was the topic, not the recording, that hit me today. I’m no longer in the radio business, I’m in the business of befriending, helping and supporting incarcerated men and women in Michigan. And, b ased on the hundreds of prisoner messages crossing our desk this month, a “Holly, Jolly Christmas” just isn’t in the cards.   Doug is running out of patience, waiting and hoping that the Parole Board will recommend a commutation of his sentence: “…today marks ten months, three weeks, one day, twelve hours, and about fifteen minutes since the counselor called me into his office and started this commutation. But w...

My special thanks, today, focuses on an unusual group of people. More about that in a moment.   As an octogenarian who never knows how many more Thanksgiving Days he will see, I’m engaged in a bit of reflection today regarding my third career---working with and for incarcerated men and women,   Before I get into that, I want to stress how grateful I am for our team---a fine Executive Director who leads HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS, as well as our dedicated staff, our enthusiastic volunteers, our supportive Board of Directors, and especially the many, many kind and generous people who see that we have the financial backing to continue our incredible work.   OK. Here’s what I’m especially thankful for: I thank God for the multitude of friends that I have who are behind bars or who formerly resided in prison!   Contrary to what you might think, everyone who is incarcerated is not a mean, unpleasant, hardened criminal. I cannot begin to count them all, but I’d wager that...