I have followed you and your mission for many years! I now, like many others, follow you on FB and read your latest post and felt compelled to write. As you know, the State of Texas murdered another man last night (Danny Bible). I did not know this man…but many of my friends both inside and out did. And for that matter, a very good dear and loved man I know has a date for September 26th. I have spent the last year and will spend the next few months visiting this man. He quite literally means everything to me. And I am afraid. I am afraid because of how vile this world has become and I know the closer we get to this date…the worse it will become for him, for me, for his friends and family.
And Sister, through this journey I am on, I have met many men in prison. Not on Death Row alone…but men who are serving multiple life sentences, men in Administrative Segregation for the rest of their lives, young men who will eventually be free, and men who will never be free. And these men and I have become close friends. I have become a mother to some, a sister to others…and best friends.
The struggle I am having is what does one do with the grief? These men have told me their pain and sorrow. They have told me of their crimes. They have told me of heartbreak. It’s immense! These men are repentant. And they want me to know it. And…WOW! I know it! I feel it…and now I live it every day! I share the message of forgiveness! Of trying to give hope back to the hopeless. Of how much that would mean to a soul…and it falls on silence. Don’t get me wrong…I may have changed the hearts and minds of a few. But the world seems so vindictive lately…it is hard to see progress. And in the meantime this country still executes men who are no threat in prison, who have been over sentenced, or who may actually be innocent of what they are convicted.
I am 53 years old…and I am so thankful to be on this path. It seems to be the journey I was meant to take my whole life. But Sister…I am very afraid! Like I have never been before…and like I said it is for the grief! I had no idea the pain one feels in the grief of others…
What does one do?