Archived Article: “Unexpected Grace!”

It’s amazing how something so very simple – something you and I take for granted each day – can be transformed into an instrument of God’s grace. It’s amazing how a simple handshake can be turned into something extraordinary. But that’s what happened today. I was asked to go to one of the Segregation Dormitories today to meet with an Inmate who’s been in some trouble inside the prison. What you need to know about this Inmate is that he, like thirty percent of all prison Inmates, has some psychological/psychiatric problems. I took some literature to him this afternoon. I didn’t have as much time to speak with him as I would have liked – I never do. A week ago the Officers in his dorm wheeled a desk chair down his walk – the corridor in which his cell is housed – so I could sit outside it and talk with him. We talked through the tray-slot in his cell door as he sat on the floor inside. The question he asked me was so very normal, so very routine that I was struck by the sweetness of it. He asked me, almost with a sense of shame, whether holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays made me think of loved ones. “Is that okay?” he asked. I thought to myself, with growing emotion, “What kind of a life is lived that makes one of God’s children ask whether it’s okay to be sentimental, even teary-eyed and wistful? What kind of power can imprison a man and alienate him from the normal and God-given gift of bittersweet memories?” As we talked, I let go of the rest of my schedule for that day and focused on what the Lord was doing between this brother and myself. We talked about the joy the Lord has given us in knowing so many special people, and how, when certain dates roll around, it’s a bittersweet joy to remember and give thanks for them. We talked about how certain things – a whiff of Cologne de Emeraude, the sound of a back door closing, a certain phrase, the words of a beloved hymn – can make so many memories rush back. We sat there, not in a prison, but on a front porch, sipping our iced tea and rocking in our chairs as the birds flew by. We sat there, the three of us, as the Lord touched us and gave us laughter, smiles, and some tears. We talked with the Lord about the sweetness of all this and asked him to make it more present, more real for us. We parted with his benediction and grace knowing that we could make it through another week, until we’d meet again. We met again today – Tuesday, December 1, 2009. And while I couldn’t talk with him today like I wanted to, we exchanged our smiles and greetings. I gave him a copy of Decision Magazine with a picture of George Beverly Shea on the cover. He looked at what he’d already read from the material I’d given him last week, and with a look of earnest compassion asked whether it would be okay to share it with the other guys on his walk. I smiled back and said, “Absolutely!” We shook hands through the tray-slot in his cell door – something so simple and yet filled with so much of God’s grace. I saw it happening in front of me, as though in slow motion. I was caught off-guard and stunned by how much it meant. As I slammed the tray-slot closed – it takes a little force to do so – and walked away I was still smiling. You see, every Sunday I talk about how our Lord Jesus comes to us in the preaching of his Word and in the sharing of Holy Communion, about how he takes the simple things of life – bread and wine and holy words – and gives us a matchless treasure. It’s amazing to me how the reverberations of that miracle show up all over the place during the week – even in a simple handshake. It’s amazing to me how those of us who are privileged to offer our Lord to the world very often find ourselves receiving him from those we’re called to help. What astounding grace is at work in this place, this prison! What abounding hope, and what love still beating within so many hearts! What an amazing God who knows no boundaries and who comes to sit with a prisoner and a priest on a concrete floor! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise his holy Name! Father Todd Boyce, Vicar The Fellowship of Saint Joseph Tuesday, December 1, 2009