“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’… ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ “…Matthew 25:31-40
Several months ago, a handwritten letter arrived addressed to St. Stephen asking for a pen pal for a Texas State Prisoner in Gatesville. Most questionable mail goes in the trash, but for some unknown reason, I decided to write this prisoner and see what would happen.
Describing my job and my family – so as to not give any hint of impropriety – I wrote back to “Ronald”. I asked him to describe himself and tell me why he was in the situation he was in. His reply came within a week on notebook paper in bad third-grade handwriting. He was a man who had been involved in wrongdoing and had wrecked every relationship in his life. Recently, he had “given his life over to Christ” and was hoping to write another Christian to talk about God. Ronald also shared that he had AIDS and wasn’t expected to live long. This condition created neuropathy in his hands which meant that his handwriting was very poor. Of the ten letters he wrote to churches in the state, I was the only one to reply.
Being a skeptic, I wondered at first if I was being tricked into writing someone in Uganda who would give me $10,000 of their funds if I would give them $2000 immediately. Time has conquered that fear as our ten letters have corroborated his original intent.
A few months ago I read the Laura Hillenbrand book Unbroken, a true story of an Olympic runner who became a pilot in WWII and then a Japanese war prisoner and an alcoholic.
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. [Excerpt from Unbroken]
It was an amazing story and full of perseverance and survival in horrifying conditions, and somewhat parallel to Ronald’s life. Unbroken has a theme of redemption and a surprisingly strong Christian message. He wants to read the book but cautioned that the prison only allows books in original book store packaging. I’ve yet to successfully order it from Amazon.com, though; hopefully it soon will be done.
Ronald wrote this week desperate for answers due to my lack of corresponding. He thought he had offended me. I laughed at this as I was completely consumed with work – the Day School Auction, Holy Week activities, the Spring Festival. Was I right to ignore writing him a letter due to the demands of my work? Sure?! It was my job….
Ronald is the least of these, one of the sheep, acceptable to God because of God’s grace for those whose lives are indescribable, horrible, full of suffering, or whose decisions were wrong. St. Stephen has a strong history with individuals of equal sum, x < or = 0. Homeless welcomed, AIDS patients fed, mission trips to places and people of need, Easter Baskets to needy kids. We understand the math; we care. We are feeding the least sheep…I wrote Ronald soon after and asked for his forgiveness and wished him a glorious Easter.