Dear Friends,
This current week is nominated by many of the Christian denominations as the Week of Prayer for Prisoners & their families. We are a bit late but no matter. Looking for some attachments I started on a theme we had last month – Freedom & Fear – as experienced by all of us. Then I went on to look for some reflections directly related to prison-life. In my search I came across a prayer but also a reflection of a prison chaplain. I was moved by it & wondered if others might be too. So we have ended up with rather a heavy weight of attachments. Please pick out one or two that have meaning for you & don’t worry about the rest!
You may notice a ? after Nelson Mandela’s name in one of the reflections: it surprised me to discover that this piece of writing may not originally have come from Mandela but possibly is Marianne Williamson’s writing – not that that is hugely significant!
A Song of Blessing is today’s blessing. Let’s pray it for prisoners & their families & also anyone we know who is ‘imprisoned’ by fear, anger, jealousy & any other things that can limit our freedom.
With love to you all
Freedom Is the Goal
Though the forces of evil infecting whole nations and peoples are often hidden, complex, and elusive, we are called, as Christians, to unmask and expel them in the name of the God of Love. . . .
As long as national security is our primary concern and national survival more important than preserving life on this planet, we continue to live in the house of fear. Ultimately, we must choose between security—individual, social, or national— and freedom.
Freedom is the true human goal. Life is only true if it is free. An obsessive concern for security freezes us; it leads us to rigidity, fixation, and eventually death. The more preoccupied we are with security the more visible the force of death becomes, whether in the form of a pistol beside our bed, a rifle in our house, or a Trident submarine in our port. . . .
We must find a way to go beyond our national security obsession and reach out and foster life for all people, whatever their nationality, race, or religion.
Henri Nouwen
Lord, you offer freedom to all people.
We pray for those in prison.
Break the bonds of fear and isolation that exist.
Support with your love prisoners and their families and friends,
prison staff and all who care.
Heal those who have been wounded by the activities
of others, especially the victims of crime.
Help us to forgive one another.
To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly together with Christ
in His strength and in His Spirit, now and every day. Amen.
No Longer Afraid
When you forget your true identity as a beloved child of God, you lose your way in life. Insecure and frightened, you act not freely, but out of fear. You become preoccupied trying to please others and you lose the confidence to be yourself. You work hard to avoid rejection, or abandonment, and you may cling to people more from fear than freedom. In making compromises you may please people but lose touch with your original blessing, the connection to the deep and everlasting love of God.
Jesus announces to us, “Do not be afraid. I dwell in you till the end of time.”
Alleluia! Christ is risen, and we are no longer afraid.
Henri Nouwen
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves,
‘’ …… who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’’
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone.
And as we let our light shine,
we unconsciously give permission to others to do the same.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Nelson Mandela?
Seeking Truths
Joyce Rupp
Solitude and reflection are essential
for my inward journey,
but I also need others to help me walk
through the fearsome tunnels of darkness.
In the seasons of my inner life, Sophia’s presence
can soften the anguish and isolation of the darkness,
but she will not take it away from me.
The darkness is necessary for my growth.
My fears & anxieties can quietly, or noisily,
tend to take over my decisions and my choices
if there is no awareness of them,
sapping me of my energy for life-giving experiences.
If I stay in the darkness long enough,
my eyes become more accustomed to the dark,
and I begin to see things of beauty and freedom
that I never knew were there.
When God first called me to prison chaplaincy, I was very reluctant; but almost six years later I already know that whatever my ministry transforms into later in life, my time in prisons will have been among the most powerful.
As the Free-Church Chaplain at two prisons my role entails pastoral and religious support. The overarching theme above both of those is rehabilitation for the prisoners to be renewed before release. I have seen no better transforming power to rehabilitate people than the power of Jesus pouring out love and hope into their hearts. The Church is not short of testimonies by ex-offenders transformed in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and it’s been a rollercoaster journey seeing the Spirit do this right in front of my eyes.
We recently ran our annual Alpha Course, and a prisoner told me at the end that he no longer needs his depression medication because of the love and peace he now knows from God. Hope is found.
I recently did a sermon series on forgiveness, and so many received prayer ministry and tears flowed as they heard and absorbed the freedom they can find in Jesus. Forgiveness is found.
A few months ago I had the privilege of baptising a prisoner who gave his testimony of how one night he had a dream where he was chained up, and Jesus appeared to him and broke his chains. Freedom is found.
What difference can I make to the prisoners as a prison chaplain? Minimal, but I can point to the God who can make a difference, and say triumphantly that He has done it before and will do it again.
Each chaplain will have their own focus they feel drawn to, and I’m particularly keen on exploring the most effective ways in which prison life can merge with the love of Jesus so that I can serve the prisoners based on their needs whilst pointing them to God. This year I ran a Christian anxiety and depression course for 5 weeks, and from that came a fresh expression Christian mindfulness group.
We do Christian-based mindfulness exercises each week which are tailored around mental health, rehabilitation, and faith development. None of them previously engaged in the Christian chaplaincy activities, now over half of them do outside of the mindfulness group. This is my way of addressing their needs, loving them, and bringing them closer to Christ.
As a Christian chaplain I am an ambassador for Christ in what is one of the spiritually darkest places in society. I have the privilege of being a supportive, non-judgemental presence to those who are self-harming or suicidal, those who are mourning loved ones outside of prison, those who have been extra naughty and have ended up in the segregation unit, those who are going through a particular existential crisis.
Prison chaplaincy is such a unique circumstance because many of the prisoners will very rarely have step foot in a church other than for a wedding or funeral, or interacted with a church leader. When they ask the prison for help, I may turn up at their door, something which would not generally happen in the public sphere.
As an ambassador to Christ, I have found that my presence alone sometimes sparks a question of faith. They may also never have heard the Gospel, and so as an ambassador my pastoral support points to the love of a God far greater than me, even if I barely mention God.