Journal of Sacred Work

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.   – Hebrews 13:3

  One of the great spiritual practices for caregivers is to remember those we may have ignored. Prisoners are among the great forgotten. Shunned from society, they are caged away from the rest of us. Many shun the convicted from their thoughts as well as their presence in society.
   As a federal prosecutor and night court judge, I have participated in the imprisonment of many people. What always struck me as unfair was not their imprisonment, but the way many were treated behind bars. Felons are sentenced to be segregated from the rest of society. But no court sentences a person to be raped, beaten or tortured. Yet this is what happens to many both here and around the world…

   Love is not reserved for the law-abiding. We all need to open our hearts in forgiveness and compassion for those who, for whatever reason, live this day behind bars.
   Love and forgiveness do not call us to release prisoners. Instead, we are called to treat all beings with dignity and respect.
    The test of our society and each of us is found not only with how we treat those dear to us but how we think of those who are remote from us both by location and by behavior. It is difficult for many to pray for prisoners because, somehow, they may imagine that compassion for the convicted means approval for another’s crimes.
   Compassion is often confused with pity. We have all heard the contempt in the voices of those who condemn another by saying: "I pity you."
   Pity is an act of condescension. Compassion is an act of love.
   I remember, back in the early 1970s, prosecuting a man named Chester Range for bank robbery. Range didn’t just rob a bank. He also pistol-whipped two bank tellers. After his conviction, the judge administered the sentence I recommended – twenty-five years I remember the disgusted look on Range’s face as he headed out of the courtroom.
   Chester Range, if he survived, has long since finished his sentence. I didn’t think of him very often across his time in prison as I went on living my life in freedom. But I wish I would have taken some moments to pray for him and to express the hope that he was treated humanely.
   It is a tragedy that some of us must face time in cages. It is a travesty that any prisoners are ever subjected to torture. Torture is perhaps the most hateful thing one person does to another and we may pray, today, for those who are its victims.
   We may remember, as well, the many caregivers who look after our prisoners in hospitals and clinics. Their selfless willingness to give good treatment to those labeled "bad" by society is a hallmark of loving care.

-Erie Chapman