Pondering my life and prison ministry
I listened to a podcast last night, Ravencast. It's an podcast for Asatruar. I am not that great at listening to them but the ones I have listened to, I've enjoyed. They interviewed Patrick McCollum about his prison ministry work. And while I have spent hours on the telephone with the man talking to him about prison ministry work that I also do in California, I found that I still have things to learn. In addition, I have been going in to the facility for some years now and been grateful for what I have been allowed. I have not been mistreated like Patrick, though in some ways I have. Some of it, I think, is because I am a woman. Some of it is because the Muslim Chaplain there is truly a good man and cares about things in the spirit of Interfaith. When I went on the Stand a few weeks ago, they tried to make me afraid by asking me if the Chaplain would say something different from what I was telling them. I happened to know that would not happen, as I was not lying. But it was clear they were trying to drive a wedge between me and the Chaplain. I am lucky that I have a good relationship with him, and we have known each other for some years. So it is not going to happen. But that along with some of the things I heard on the podcast, and what Nan, who is the Gythia that goes into the facility with me when she's not working, made me think.
Nan told me that she watches relgious volunteers like she and I walk through the gate with a box of books and items, and just be "waved through" by the gate officer. While we bring in all of our items in a box with an inventory list, and check all of them off going in, and coming out. In fact, I am asked to remove my shoes and jacket and go through a metal detector to go in the prison. I can't wear, for example, an underwire bra, because they've told me that would set off the detector. I know that the airport security is not as tight as it is at the prison! Nan reads lips because of her hearing loss and has told me that she's seen the officers at the gate mutter about "darned devil (or satan) worshippers" when we go through the gate.
I am probably not the best person to do this ministry because I really have to force myself to be paranoid and think about tricky things. I am learning to be more cautious and careful. I have to never forget that these people are murderers or felons and there is a reason they are inside the prison. In addition, some of them are there for life and have nothing to lose by doing something else illegal but time in the "hole". Spending too much time talking with one of the inmates can be viewed as over-familiarituy. Simply being friendly is suspect.
Then there is the issue of what will happen to these men when they are released. It is a rocky issue. Many in the community want nothing to do with them. I'm not supposed to have anything to do with them unless I report it to the Chaplain and the prison, because it can affect my ability to go back inside and do the prison ministry. These inmates do not get to have candles, incense, a lot of things, unless I bring them in for them. I was recently told I have to bring in crackers, not cookies. Crackers, cookies, whatEVER. I could make a case that cookies are what is used most commonly and that it is not appropriate to do crackers. I wonder how that would go over. I have to get the warden to sign an updated memo for the Wiccans, and also one for the Asatru so that I can bring items inside. Until that happens, I am at the mercy of the gate official whether or not I can bring an item inside.
One of the inmates asked me, "Would you want to work here as a paid Chaplain?" I told him I didn't know, but that I would probably take the job if offered. Goodness knows our family could use some help financially right now... though we seem to have enough when we need it, thank the Gods. Selling the car is giving us the money we need for a re-pipe of our house since we have a slab leak. Sigh.
I suppose I will cross that bridge when I come to it. But I would like to have the time to pursue my calling, to attend some seminary classes, and do some other things to increase my knowledge. I just have to find the time. In the mean time, working on Lore for the Lore program is my first goal as the first step to getting into the Clergy program in The Troth.
Nan told me that she watches relgious volunteers like she and I walk through the gate with a box of books and items, and just be "waved through" by the gate officer. While we bring in all of our items in a box with an inventory list, and check all of them off going in, and coming out. In fact, I am asked to remove my shoes and jacket and go through a metal detector to go in the prison. I can't wear, for example, an underwire bra, because they've told me that would set off the detector. I know that the airport security is not as tight as it is at the prison! Nan reads lips because of her hearing loss and has told me that she's seen the officers at the gate mutter about "darned devil (or satan) worshippers" when we go through the gate.
I am probably not the best person to do this ministry because I really have to force myself to be paranoid and think about tricky things. I am learning to be more cautious and careful. I have to never forget that these people are murderers or felons and there is a reason they are inside the prison. In addition, some of them are there for life and have nothing to lose by doing something else illegal but time in the "hole". Spending too much time talking with one of the inmates can be viewed as over-familiarituy. Simply being friendly is suspect.
Then there is the issue of what will happen to these men when they are released. It is a rocky issue. Many in the community want nothing to do with them. I'm not supposed to have anything to do with them unless I report it to the Chaplain and the prison, because it can affect my ability to go back inside and do the prison ministry. These inmates do not get to have candles, incense, a lot of things, unless I bring them in for them. I was recently told I have to bring in crackers, not cookies. Crackers, cookies, whatEVER. I could make a case that cookies are what is used most commonly and that it is not appropriate to do crackers. I wonder how that would go over. I have to get the warden to sign an updated memo for the Wiccans, and also one for the Asatru so that I can bring items inside. Until that happens, I am at the mercy of the gate official whether or not I can bring an item inside.
One of the inmates asked me, "Would you want to work here as a paid Chaplain?" I told him I didn't know, but that I would probably take the job if offered. Goodness knows our family could use some help financially right now... though we seem to have enough when we need it, thank the Gods. Selling the car is giving us the money we need for a re-pipe of our house since we have a slab leak. Sigh.
I suppose I will cross that bridge when I come to it. But I would like to have the time to pursue my calling, to attend some seminary classes, and do some other things to increase my knowledge. I just have to find the time. In the mean time, working on Lore for the Lore program is my first goal as the first step to getting into the Clergy program in The Troth.