Holly, Jolly? I don’t think so!

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, based 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 who's counting, right?” For Doug, it’s an anxious season. 

The mother of a former prisoner attached a note to her year-end donation to HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS, explaining that the season is difficult for her. It was just two years ago that her daughter, a resident of Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, died. Apparently an overdose of drugs smuggled into the prison was ruled as the cause of death. For Lois, the season brings difficult memories. 

David called the office. Two prisoners died in his facility in one week. The prisoners claim that one of the deaths was that of a transgender person, beaten to death by his/her roommate! It’s not a nice season for David…and it’s a sad time for the families and loved ones of the deceased pair. 

A resident of the Saginaw Correctional Facility reports that some drug addicts in that prison are now getting high on suboxone, a medication that is normally used to treat narcotic addiction. The warning seems to make no difference to these guys: “Suboxone can slow or stop your breathing, and may be habit-forming. MISUSE OF THIS MEDICINE CAN CAUSE ADDICTION OVERDOSE, OR DEATH!” What a way to celebrate this meaningful season. 

Jim suffers daily…a bowel disease. His bunkie reports that “He uses the toilet upwards of 20 times a day, returning to the room shivering like he's standing naked in a January snowstorm, because of blood loss." In a recent hospital emergency visit doctors gave him explicit instructions. Grumbled his roommate, “Imagine his surprise when directions by the MDOC's contracted for-profit doctor contradicted everything he'd been told at the hospital. No changes in his meds despite his failing health!” Merry Christmas, Jim! 

I’m not telling these stories so that YOU will not have a “Holly, Jolly Christmas.” I’m just suggesting that, in addition to your celebration, you also include prayers for “the least of these.” 

As I observe this holiday season I'm grateful that this Jesus, whose birth we celebrate, loves and comforts these struggling incarecerated people. As a wrongly accused and wrongly convicted person, he understands.

So must we.



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