10 years later, remembering Maurice

My soul brother Maurice Carter died 10 years ago today.  He had spent nearly half of his life in prison for something he didn’t do.

One of his favorite sayings was that when he got arrested, “The wheels of justice ground to a halt.” 

The injustice of it all wasn’t just the wrongful conviction.  Other ingredients included racism before, during and after the trial; incompetent legal assistance; shoddy police work;  face-saving prosecutors and judges;  inadequate prison medical care…the list goes on and on.

Yet, Maurice Carter made a conscious decision to reach past all of this suffering and indignity, so that he could touch others.  His goal was to help other prisoners upon his release.  Things didn’t go the way he had planned.  He experienced only three months of freedom, and during that time he was in poor health.

Instead, God saw to it that he began touching lives while still behind bars.  No one will ever know how many, but I saw it with my own eyes.  Not just my family, my friends, my church. And not just hundreds, either...I daresay thousands of people, all around the world, impacted by this indigent man from Gary, Indiana.  His kindness and love were contagious. 

Yes, Maurice died ten years ago today.  Yet, his thoughtfulness and compassion continue to touch lives.  Daily.  Through HFP’s action with compassion.  Through the moving drama written by Toronto playwrights Donald Molnar and Alicia Payne.  Through the book SWEET FREEDOM.

The spirit of Maurice is alive and well.  God is still at work

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