GROAN!

To write with a broken pencil is . . . pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes . . . take debate.
A thief who stole a calendar . . . got twelve months.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles , . . . U.C.L.A.
The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes . . . was on shaky ground.
The batteries were given out . . . free of charge.
A dentist and a manicurist married. .. . . They fought tooth and nail.
A will is a . . . dead giveaway.
If you don't pay your exorcist . . . you can get repossessed.
With her marriage, she got a new name . .. . and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you . . . A-flat miner.
You are stuck with your debt if . . . you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia : . . . The LAN down under.
A boiled egg is . . . hard to beat.
When you've seen one shopping center . . . you've seen a mall.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was . . .. resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? . . . He's all right now.
If you take a laptop computer for a run you could . . . jog your memory.
A bicycle can't stand alone; . . .. it is two tired.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, . . . it's your Count that votes.
When a clock is hungry . . .. it goes back four seconds.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine . . . was fully recovered.
He had a photographic memory . . . which was never developed.
Those who get too big for their britches will be . . . exposed in the end.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, . . . she thought she'd dye.

Wordless Wednesday: Simple beauty

Simon's cat is at it again!

And if you've ever had cats, you'll know this could well have happened!!!

Observing Beauty with Linky: WATER

Remember those who serve.

I admit I'm getting tired of our country being continuously involved in a war. But I will not make the mistake I did 40 years ago by confusing the war with the brave men and women who are serving in it. And on this Memorial Day, I want to acknowledge that I want our nation to re-think getting involved in one endless conflict after another,  I do want to honor those who serve in our military. This email is a good reminder of that.

As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car, and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away.

I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too, and took a few steps towards him.I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade. He then turned back to the old man. I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying: 'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age.' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.

I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief, and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine.He then went to his wife and spoke with her; he appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough, and I approached the old man. He saw me coming and stood straight, and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having a problem.'

He smiled sheepishly, and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself, and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around, I saw a gas station up the road, and I told the old man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went I inside. I saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them, and related the problem the old man had with his car. I offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.

The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine), I spoke with the old gentleman.When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve with?'He said that he served with the first Marine Division at Guadalcanal, Pelieliu, and Okinawa .

He had hit three of the worst ones, and retired from the Corps after the war was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me. I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.

He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it, and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all around again, and I said my goodbye's to his wife. I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station, I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me.

One of them pulled out a card from his pocket, looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.

For some reason I had gone about two blocks, when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name was written: 'Congressional Medal of Honor Society.' I sat there motionless, looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness and courage, and an honor to have been in his presence.

Remember, as we approach another Memorial Day, OLD men like him gave you, and all of us, FREEDOM for America . Thanks to those who served and still serve, and to all of those who supported them, and who continue to support them. Remember, Freedom isn't Free. Thousands have paid the price, so that you can enjoy what you have today.

Every time I think I've heard everything...

...I hear something else.

This time it's this article that has me shaking my head. Two New York men probably wish they'd have thought things through before Shawn Mostow finally decided to do what his friend had been badgering him to do: he shot his pal in the leg with a 22-caliber rifle. It seems his buddy wanted to know what it felt like to be shot.

It's hard to decide which of these guys would win the award for idiocy. One of them was arrested for reckless endangerment. The other is expected to make a full recovery despite winding up with a hole or two in his leg.

I think my readers are of a higher caliber than those guys, but just in case someone dumb is looking over your shoulder let me stress - guns aren't something to play around with. They're serious business, OK?

There's nothing funny about 'em, OK?

This is unsettling.

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.

 I don't know about you, but I find it disturbing to consider where our country falls on this trajectory.

What do you think? Where would you say we are?

Wordless Wednesday: Wedding

Just a few shots from a wedding I attended this past weekend... And now, let's see what you've been shooting!

Baskets, bouquets, and ring

Ready for the ringbearer

Such a pretty flower girl!

Mary's free assent

I've been reading an interesting book called Redeemed: A Spiritual Misfit Stumbles Toward God, Marginal Sanity, and the Peace That Passes All Understanding, by Heather King. The author is a recovering alcoholic who found her way to the Catholic church after she became sober. Her "take" on things has been thought-provoking, as you may see reading this excerpt from her book:

I did not have much of an idea of Mary at the time, and what idea I did have was derived from religious statuary: a plaster tinted Mary in a sterile cowl, eyes piously averted, hands clasped in prayer. I'd never heard the Angelus, and the first time I did, I thought with a start of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a truly creepy novel about a society in which women are imprisoned and forced to bear the children of sadistic political leaders with barren wives.

The more I thought, reflected, and prayed the Rosary, though, the more I saw that Mary was an entirely different kind of handmaid. For starters, she had chosen, not been forced, to bear Christ: when the angel Gabriel appeared to this simple peasant girl, it was with a question, not a command. The operative feature of being a simple peasant girl wasn't that Mary was stupid, or gullible, or easily duped; it was that she hadn't been corrupted by the desire, as God knows I have, to be or to appear sophisticated. She was humble enough, sensitive enough, and most of all pure enough to understand that she was being invited not to have her body callously used as a vessel, but to put her entire being at the service of God. Mary was human, which meant she knew how our very identities get tied up in trying to manipulate things into going our way: we need an angel to appear and offer us entry into another world, to leave the one that consigns us to everlasting misery behind. To serve rather than be served, to conform one's will to God's instead of trying to make it the other way around: these are ideas that go strongly against the human desire for control, safety, and security that it took a great and rare soul to understand the invitation was to freedom, not enhanced slavery. That's where Mary was when she said, "Let it be done unto me according to Thy word": not resignedly or passively, but in a way that was vital, alive, fully awake; knowing that every faculty would be tested, challenged, engaged to its utmost. In the passage known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), Mary , pregnant with Christ, makes her way to the hill country, spies her also-pregnant cousin Elizabeth, and exclaims: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"... Humble, maybe. Grateful, courteous, generous in spirit, full of joy, yes. But oppressed, as some fellow female writers have suggested? No.

Today's "Observing Beauty" photo challenge

This week's challenge is "TREES". And to me, one of the times trees are most glorious is autumn, when they put on their fancy colors. I'll look forward to seeing your "trees", too!

A prayer for today

Dear Jesus,

Help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go.Flood my soul with your Spirit and life.Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up, and see no longer me, but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine. It will be you, shining on others through me.

Let me thus praise you in the way which you love me best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears for you.

Amen. 

– John Cardinal Newman

 

Don't fly "Evil Airlines"

Wordless (almost) Wednesday!

Why go to Church?

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this!
If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it.
If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday."I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing..... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

Observing Beauty photo challenge: GREEN

I've banded together with 3 of my fellow bloggers to start a weekly photo challenge, Observing Beauty. This week's challenge is "GREEN", and here's my green photo, along with the Observing Beauty button and the rules for the challenge.

Warming up before the game - LOOKS PAINFUL!!!

PHOTO CHALLENGE GUIDELINES:

• Photo must be taken by you.
• Specify which photo you are linking (if more than one photo is in your post).
• All photos must be G rated. We can delete any entries that we find inappropriate.
• Link up with the link to your post, not your main blog url.
• Leave our button or link back to one of our blogs in your post.
• If your photo is the winner of the challenge, we can post it on our blogs.
• Comment on other participant's photos.
• Have fun!

<center><a href="http://pullingmymaskoff.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z416/geckopickle/2012-04-183.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></center>

to Yolanda, me, Beth

It's not St. Patty's Day, but this is clever!

Are you a reformed Martha?

If so, what's your secret?

I'm referring to the Gospel story found in Luke 10:38-42:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Of the two women, I most identify with Martha. I can see myself being so absorbed in the preparations that I missed the opportunity to listen to what Jesus had to say. And I can certainly see myself "copping a resentment" at Mary. Ask my husband - he's seen me in a frenzy when company's a-comin'!

How about you? Are you a Martha or a Mary? Or are you a reformed Martha who can now "choose what is better"? And if you are a reformed Martha, how did you go about making the transition?

Wordless but musical in New Orleans

Kids' little instructions on life

Never trust a dog to watch your food.
       Patrick, age 10

When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?", don't answer him.
       Heather, age 16

Never tell your mom her diet's not working.
       Michael, age 14

Don't pull dad's finger when he tells you to.
       Emily, age 10

When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.
       Taylia, age 11

Never allow your three-year old brother in the same room as your school assignment.
       Traci, age 14

Don't sneeze in front of your mom when you're eating crackers.
       Michelle, age 12

You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
       Armir, age 9

If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.
       Naomi, age 15

Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.
       Lauren, age 9

Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat.
       Joel, age 10

Never try to baptize a cat.
       Eileen, age 8

Never smart off to a teacher whose eyes and ears are twitching.
       Andrew, age 9

Wear a hat when feeding seagulls.
       Rocky, age 9

Don't flush the john when your dad's in the shower.
       Lamar, age 10

Never ask for anything that costs more than $5 when your parents are doing taxes.
       Carrol, age 9

Never bug a pregnant mom.
       Nicholas, age 11

Don't ever be too full for dessert.
       Kelly, age 10

When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she's on the phone.
       Alyesha, age 13

Never spit when on a roller coaster.
       Scott, age 11

Never do pranks at a police station.
       Sam, age 10

Beware of cafeteria food when it looks like it's moving.
       Rob, age 10

Never tell your little brother that you're not going to do what your mom told you to do.
       Hank, age 12

Remember you're never too old to hold your father's hand.
       Molly, age 11

Stay away from prunes.
       Randy, age 9

Remember the two places you are always welcome - church and Grandma's house.
       Joanne, age 11

When you want something expensive, ask your grandparents.
       Matthew, age 12

Being Green

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling's. Then we were able to personalize aour books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

The death penalty: a last look

I mentioned at the start of this series that I write to several inmates on death row. I started writing to one of them in 1998, and have gradually come to consider him to be a friend. I'm not excusing what he did; he committed a robbery in which a woman lost her life. But he has taken responsibility for his crime and has shown what seems to be genuine remorse. In fact, when he sobered up and realized what he had done, he immediately went to the sheriff and confessed. He did not have legal counsel; perhaps if he had, he wouldn't be sitting on death row. As it is, his only desire is that his sentence be reduced to life in prison without parole. I truly believe he's a changed man, and of all the men I've written to, he's the only one I feel could live honestly and well "on the outside".

I'd like to include some excerpts from a few of the letters we exchanged this past summer:

7/21/10 - I have been thinking that I would like to have you come and be with Mom and I on that last day if it comes to that… I am mainly thinking about Mom having someone there to support her and I think that would be You or B****. I guess that I came out of left field with that but I think about it often and I sort of want to have things made up in my mind way before the time might come. Lots of guys up here seem to be scared to talk about it but I somehow find it a bit comforting just to put it out there like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8/7/10 - I guess that now I will jump on the topic of your last letter and the one that seems to trouble folks the most… It is something that I have come to accept and in some ways to even embrace, so to speak. I am not seeking it out but I will not fear it either.

The one thing that I am finding out is that maybe the dying part of all of this is really the easy part and that the folks out there have a harder part to play in it. I figured that since I was the one going to die, that if I was taking it well that everyone else would follow suit. I just wanted it to be a time of peaceful acceptance, I guess. I would like to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved. Even down to the person that actually does the executing.

I think I sort of hit you out of left field with all of this… To me, it was the greatest compliment that I could bestow on you. That I would want to spend my last day on earth visiting with You, along with my Mom. I want to spend the time with people that I truly enjoy being around and not just what seems right.

…As strange as it might seem, you are included in a list of some 4 people who will be close to me at that time. There is a lot more to this than you might see at first glance. It is not just that last day but the few days following it that I have to think about. I need people around my mom that I can not only depend on but trust to be there and that list is far shorter than you might think. Blood relation has nothing to do with it. You are family to me.. So whether you actually spend the last day with me or B**** does, I would definitely want you to come and stay with mom for a few days. I need to know that there is someone that does not have to go to work or take care of the family but can stay and not only be sympathetic to her needs but strong at the same time.

Regardless of whether you believe in the death penalty or not or are a Christian, really is not even relevant in this instance. Whether it is administered fairly or not or whether I did or did not commit a worse crime than the next person and they do not get the death penalty. As it stands now, the state of **** has voted it in and as long as it is the law, I have to live or die with the fact that it could happen, that I will be executed some time in the future. Whether it actually happens or not, I just want to be cool with it and let God work with it as He sees fit and I want you to ride along with me.

I truly hope that I have not made this even worse by saying any of this or in the way I said it. Just know that as negative as it may sound, it was meant in a most positive way.

I feel the same responsibility towards my pen-friends as many of them feel towards the guys they begin to write. I realized early on that folks write us for a number of reasons and I can usually tell what it is within just a short while. When I decided to reach out there to you all, I made it a point to be someone probably completely different than they had probably ever come in contact with. I took it as an opportunity to begin anew and do things better than I did the first time around… If I had it to do over again, I do not think that I would do it but that would mean that I would have missed out on your friendship and that would be a terrible loss…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8/10/10 - I can imagine that this little note was a surprise for you. I have to say that I felt that my large letter which you would have already received was not my best piece of work. So I decided to drop this little note to apologize, if it fell short of where I was going or if it went too far.

Even though my intent was that purest that I can reach, I still felt that I might have come across a bit if not a lot pushy. I have to say that when it comes to things that run on the emotional side of life, that I struggle with expressing them in the appropriate manner. I always mean well but many times I feel that I come up short.

I probably put a lot of pressure on you by being so dependent on you or, at the least, feeling that I can depend on you, in all aspects of life... In all honesty, there are only two people on this earth that I feel that I can truly depend on and that is My Mom and You. I am learning to trust God more and more but there are still moments when I do trust the physical over the spiritual and when that is the case, it means you two…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I must admit, the thought of being present at the deliberate killing of another human being is something I can't imagine. Especially when I've developed a friendship with this person over the years. Do you think you could do it?

Over the past few days, I've discussed some aspects of the death penalty that you may not have considered before. I've talked about innocence and guilt, repentance and forgiveness, vengeance and justice. I've talked about the effects of executions on those who carry them out and on family members who survive them. And I've shared some correspondence from a man who is on death row today. Now I'd like you to share. What is your position on the death penalty?

Ways you can help

One last thing before I get off the topic of prisons & prisoners. I did a web search & found a number of resources for prisoners. If you have a friend or family member in prison, these organizations may be helpful ones for your loved one. And if you'd like to help prisoners indirectly, contact these organizations for ways you may be able to assist them. Many of them would be endlessly grateful if you would volunteer your time or donate books or services to help them in their efforts.


American Bible Society
1865 Broadway
New York, NY 10023

Free bibles including large print and study guides.

Asheville Prison Books Program
67 North Lexington Ave
Asheville NC 28801

Mails free reading material to indigent inmates in facilities in NC, SC, GA, & TN. Each prisoner request is met with a package containing several books, a letter, and, if requested, a National Prisoners Resource List.

Book 'Em
PO Box 71357
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Sends free books to prisoners in all states except OR (& men in TX)


Books Through Bars
C/O Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St
New York, NY 10002

Ships to prisoners nationwide. Specializes in political and history books. Also sends literary fiction and other educational books; no religious literature.

Books to Prisoners
C/O Left Bank Books
 92 Pike St., Box A
Seattle WA 98101

Free books to prisoners to all states except CA. Request by subject, no materials or legal materials.


Campaign to End the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 25730
Chicago, IL 60625

Publishes a newsletter called The New Abolitionist (free to prisoners)


DC Prisons Book Project
P.O. Box 5243
Hyattsville MD 20782

Free books to prisoners nationwide. Give about 3 month turnaround time.

Death Row Support Project
P.O. Box 600 Dept. P
Liberty Mills, IN 46946

Offers pen-pal services to death row inmates


Gainesville Books for Prisoners
PO Box 12164
Gainsesville FL 32604

Covers prisoners nationwide. Accepts requests by topic of interest only.

Groundwork Books Collective
0323 UCSD Student Center
La Jolla CA 92037

Used college textbooks donated by students at the end of the semester. Only one book per request. Request by subject.

International Bible Society
1820 Jet Stream Dr
Colorado Springs, CO

Inmates can receive free on the inside Bible (English or Spanish) and a booklet for women or men.

Lifespark
PO Box, 4002
Basel, Switzerland

Swiss organization which arranges penpals to inmates on death row in the USA

Mennonite Central Committee, US Office of Crime and Justice
PO Box 500
Akfron, PA 17501

Free publicatins for prisoners, families

Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project
C/O Boxcar Books
310A S. Washington St.
Bloomington IN 47401

Sends free books to prisoners in the following states AZ, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, MN, IA, MO, AR, IN, OH, KY, TN, & FL. Sends up to 3 books at a time. Books can be requested every 2 months. Sends all subjects of fiction and non-fiction reading material. Priority is given to people requesting books from women's and youth facilities.

Prison Book Program
31 Montford Ave.
Asheville NC 28801

Sends free books to prisoners in NC, SC, GA, & TN

Prison Book Program
C/O Lucy Parsons Bookstore
1306 Hancock St., Suite 100
Quincy MA 02169

Covers prisoners in all states but CA, MD, MI, PA, or TX. No computer books, horror, romance, textbooks, true crime, or white supremacist materials. Publishes the National Prisoner Resource List free to prisoners nationwide on request.

Prison Fellowship
P.O. Box 1550
Merrifield VA 22116

Partners with local churches across the country to minister to prisoners, exprisoners, and their families. Publishes a variety of prisoner support literature including the Prison Survival Guide

Prison Literature Project
C/O Bound Together Bookstore
1369 Haight St.
San Francisco CA 94117

Request types of books - not specific titles

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The murderer's mom

Yesterday I talked some about death row inmates. Today I'd like to bring up another group of people who are profoundly affected by capital punishment: the families of the person sentenced to death.

I must admit I'd never given them a thought before I began corresponding with inmates. As I said yesterday, many people on death row have little or no contact with family members. But I think I'd have expected the families would have been folks I'd not care to spend much time with. Truth be told, we often tend to place some blame on the families of people who "turn out wrong". Take this quote from Misty McWee, who was 14 years old when her father was arrested for murder, and twice that age when he was executed:

When we walked in the courtroom, people gave us dirty looks, just because we belonged to our father. You wonder, what did we as kids do to deserve this? There's so much you're trying to understand and it doesn't help to have people judging you. People look at it like the whole family must be bad.

 

When I visited one of my penpals several years ago, I met the mother of another inmate. She lived 1000 miles away from the prison where he was incarcerated, so she rarely had the chance to see her son. She was a well-dressed woman, probably upper middle class, well educated, soft spoken... not at all what I'd have envisioned had I tried to conjure up the image of a family member of a convicted killer. And perhaps for that reason, she has stuck in my mind... especially after I heard that her son was executed. I can't begin to fathom what that would be like, can you?

I recently ran across a report published in 2006 called Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind. This publication was put out by Murder Victim's Families for Human Rights (MVFHR). Read it - I've placed a link to the report below. The report will open your eyes.

MVFHR has launched a project which focuses on the families of those who have been executed. It's called No Silence, No Shame. After reading of the experience of Christina Lawson, whose husband was executed, I can understand the importance of such a project. Here's how she described her experience:

Then they wouldn’t look us in the eye when they frisked us. And afterwards, they were pushing us out the door and I looked up and saw that not even a minute had gone by since his death. I didn’t even get to stand there and realize what had happened. Then we started walking out of the administration building and my whole world started spinning. The activists were packing up and leaving and the prodeath penalty side was yelling at us and I kept thinking, why are you yelling at me? I didn’t do anything. I realized I was being punished for something David did.

As I said in an earlier post, I recognize that there are strong arguments both for and against the death penalty, and I can understand and respect those who hold a different point of view. But regardless of your position, I hope you can find it in your heart to treat families of those in prison with compassion rather than cruelty.

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Is "closure" possible?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to witness an execution? I imagine your reaction might differ depending on the method used. In the U.S., the method varies from one state to another. Lethal injection is the most common method, but Washington allows inmates to choose hanging if they so desire, and several states allow the inmate to choose electrocution over lethal injection. Some states have implemented a sort of execution insurance: if lethal injection is deemed unconstitutional, they have a backup plan to use an alternate method, i.e. hanging, firing squad or lethal gas.

Usually only a few people are permitted to witness an execution: a select number from the media, the victim's family, and the family of the condemned. But there are extraordinary circumstances, as in the case of Timothy McVeigh. He was convicted for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. 168 people died and nearly 700 were injured as a result of that blast. Roughly 30 people were allowed to witness his execution at the prison, and 232 were permitted to watch on closed-circuit television.

One argument in favor of the death penalty is that it provides closure to the families of the victim. But I wonder: is there such a thing as "closure" after the murder of a loved one?

Take the example of Kathleen Treanor, who lost three family members, including her 4-year-old daughter, in the Murrah Building. She said, "I'm glad I live in a country which has made an example of this man." Yet she also said, "I don't think anything can bring me peace. I'll never get over the death of my daughter. When I die that's when I'll get closure."

In contrast, listen to the words of New Hampshire State Rep. Robert Renny Cushing whose father was murdered in 1988: "As one victim, as a colleague, I stand before you to ask that you vote to abolish the death penalty, not so much because I want murderers to live but because if the state kills them, that forever forecloses the possibility that those of us who are victims might be able to figure out how to forgive. We've lost enough already. Don't take that option for healing away, please."

I've never experienced the loss of a loved one due to violence, so I don't know how I'd respond. I know that, at least at first, it is likely I'd struggle with the desire for revenge. But would that solve anything? Would it bring me peace? I simply don't know the answer to that. But I hope that my ultimate response would be to progress toward the freedom of forgiveness. And I can't imagine that watching the execution of the person convicted of the death would bring me lasting peace. I sometimes wonder if the families who seek closure as they watch an execution don't feel rather let down by the whole experience and hear echoes of the old Peggy Lee song, "Is That All There Is?"

I would hope that I could respond more like Debbie Morris, who managed to survive a brutal attack by the man who later became the subject of the movie, Dead Man Walking. She said,

People often ask, “How do you feel about the death penalty now? Are you for or against it?” I still have ambivalent feelings. I’ve seen mankind’s idea of ultimate justice; I have more faith in God’s. And even God seems to put a higher priority on forgiveness than on justice. We don’t sing “Amazing Justice”; we sing “Amazing Grace”. Does that mean that I think a holy God would oppose the execution of a convicted murderer like Robert Willie? I don’t know; I’m still wrestling with that question. But I do know this: Justice didn’t do a thing to heal me. Forgiveness did.

What do you think? Would you find closure if the person accused of your loved one's murder was executed? Would you watch? Could you forgive? And what would free you most from the pain of the loss of one?