Yesterday, I received in the mail a copy of a reflection by Karl Rahner on prison ministry. If you are engaged in prison ministry in any way, tend toward the incarnational in your theology, and feel that Matthew 25 has something to say to us, then I couldn’t recommend this more fervently.
I will add that some of his language and terminology regarding prisoners is a little off-putting. Labeling others isn’t for me, although I’m certain I have slipped many times, even in these pages.
As 2008 wrapped up, I thought some sort of sabbatical would be in order, maybe six months off from prison ministry. Burnout is always a risk in pastoral care. Vigilance is of the utmost importance.
Six months, though, seemed too long, and I feared that intimidation would slowly creep back in. After all, it took nearly two years before my stomach stopped tightening as I turned down the final road and approached the prison. It isn’t the population of felons that causes the intimidation. It is the place itself. Being confronted with nine locked and remotely controlled doors before I stand at the final door … a cell door … gets under one’s skin. Hand scans and showing an ID along with signing in from time to time serve as a further reminder of the ultra-secure monitoring of my every move throughout the complex.
So, perhaps every other month for the entire year. That notion lasted until an offender asked when he would see me again. February didn’t seem a very warm answer as the holidays drew near.
Therefore, no sabbatical this go around. Not even a lessening of the number of visits. I am, however, reducing the load per visit. We’ll see how that goes.
Our local repertory theater has the privilege of being the first theater outside of New York to present the play Frost/Nixon. A dramatization of the interviews of President Nixon by David Frost in 1977, the work is very well done. I did come away a little disturbed at the apparent need for the American people to hear contrition from an already broken and disgraced man. And, of course, David Frost rocketed to ever-higher stardom following those interviews. Nevertheless, the play is good and I recommend it if it should come to a theater near you.
This morning I caught a little of Meet the Press and Brokaw’s interview of Senator Joe Biden. The other parties in the post-convention race have been invited as well. And so it goes.
I can’t help but be reminded about who bullies whom. Those who are attractive and used to having their own way? Those who are deficient in key attributes … and are in complete denial of the fact yet feel inferior anyway … such that they seek to raise their own stature by attempting to push others down? That is what I saw and heard in Sarah Palin’s remarks. Here is someone who most likely couldn’t have kept up with Senator Obama on any front, yet she smilingly belittles him and his achievements. This slamming can happen only if one feels he/she is in the company of those of like mind, high school-clique behavior as it were.
But she forgot one thing, others outside the clique were watching. There are those of us who minister to the less fortunate, who value the role of community organizing, and who don’t feel the need to display a smugness and arrogance to overcome some hidden shortcomings. I’m not sure she is entirely at fault. There was a decidedly Rovian slant to her message; a slant which doesn’t seem to know any boundaries when it comes to distorting the truth or hurting others.
Did McCain thoroughly vet her? Only time will tell. My gut tells me no, and no amount of “taking offense” at the press can cover up such a dizzying display of poor judgment in a key decision by one wishing to lead our country. I suspect she was just the nearest thing to grab to keep his campaign from sinking completely out of sight. A foolish decision entirely befitting of a Bush third term.
What worries me is that the McCain/Palin team could get elected. Why do I say that? Look at the elections of 2000 and 2004. Competence doesn’t matter. Making poor decisions doesn’t matter. Being indifferent to the needs of our country and its people, America’s standing in the world, what the U.S. Constitution says, and what is moral or lawful, doesn’t seem to matter. In fact, being indifferent to all of that can get one elected … twice!
We shall see. Governor Palin hasn’t been made available to the press or us. The next few weeks will be very interesting. A caution is in order, however: most people don’t like those who bully, and they can be quite energized toward putting a stop to such behavior.
In a dim light... 