This week’s post is the last in a series. “What We See” is worth considering, whether it’s our town, our lives, or our churches. Scroll to the two prior posts if you missed them, so you'll be up to date on this conversation. If we see spaces differently based on our life experiences, emotions and perspectives, then it must be true that we sit down in vastly different churches, even if we are on opposite ends of the same pew. I walk into my home church and those gleaming floors still bear the footprints of beloved, faithful souls who were the church for me, through my childhood and … [Read more...] about What We See: different churches (Part 3 of 3)
welcome
Yes, but will we welcome them
Many of us have hailed the news, over past months, that President Obama has commuted the sentences of hundreds of federal prisoners, most of them incarcerated with draconian sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. President Obama has granted clemency at a rate far in excess of other recent presidents. This reflects, it seems, a growing bipartisan recognition that mandatory minimum sentences have not served us well. Great news, we might say. But will we welcome them? In other news, we are beginning to see the release of juvenile offenders whose mandatory life sentences were declared … [Read more...] about Yes, but will we welcome them
Excruciating Intimacy
Who has touched you today? It’s a question, for me, usually answered with a very short list, if actual physical touch is in view. My list expanded this week as I participated, as a staff member at the prison, in a yearly training aimed at enhancing our safety. We practiced techniques to fend off an attack, and to end an altercation. There’s an intimacy to this, with a lot of touch—much of it harsh—as we repeat defensive and directive moves, always with a partner. We get up close and personal with fellow staff members, female and male, in ways that don’t happen even with close friends. … [Read more...] about Excruciating Intimacy