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THE MAN WHO LEFT HIS CROSS BEHIND
A SHORT STORY BY JOHN JACKSON
He was a tall man, about 6’4”; yet, he lacked wisdom and discretion, despite his last name of “Wise.”
In December of 2012, I began attending a big church. I felt as if that was the place that GOD would have me serve. I began greeting at one of the doors on Sunday morning; I learned how to operate a video camera and became one of the members responsible for holding the camera steadily on the Pastor on Sunday mornings. Plus, I attended various Sunday School classes as well.
I met a man in one of those Sunday School classes. He was a man considered a “biker,” but a biker for Christ. He wore the biker leathers to church because he usually rode his motorcycle to church. He would come into Sunday School class with his helmet under his arm and a backpack on his back. I was drawn to this man by an internal magnet. He wasn’t afraid to be real in front of a bunch of other people who might judge him for his style and image of Jesus Christ that he portrayed. This “biker” and I became friends.
One day in Sunday morning church, my biker friend came to me and asked, “Hey John. Have you ever thought about being involved with a prison ministry?” I excitedly told my new friend of how I had been involved with prison ministry in the past, and how I had a desire to talk to teenage boys and girls, telling them my “story”; hoping to steer them clear of some of the troubles of life. My friend explained to me just what part of prison ministry he was involved with and asked me if I was interested in being involved.
So, in 2014, after an extensive ceremony of “red tape” cutting, I was approved to go into the prison by the Department of Corrections and take part in my very first weekend event.
Once the prison team arrives at the local church, the weekend is discussed; letters are written to the inmates; bedding arrangements are settled; food is served to the team; cookies are loaded for transport to the prison along with all the extra material needed to host such an event, and each team member is clear as to what assignment they have been given.
About 2 P.M., the team loads up into vehicles and make the drive to the prison. Excitement is on everybody’s heart and there is small chatter about getting to know the prisoners, now considered participants. After the team arrives at the prison and unloads all the gear, especially the cookies, they proceed inside the prison and go through a rigorous security scan, everything must be checked by the prison officials. Once the team has themselves and their gear through security, it’s time to relax and get the atmosphere charged with excitement, for in just a couple of hours, the 42 participants that were hand selected by the Chaplain and approved by the warden, will be arriving, not really knowing what to expect. The participants are merely told that they will be attending a religious meeting. Finally, the participants arrive!
At the team meeting, each team member received a name of a participant. When the participants begin to arrive at the community center, each team member extends a warm welcome to the participants. The team members are responsible for pairing up with the name that was given to them earlier. It’s very important at that point to make the participant feel welcomed and at ease; each team member wants the participants to forget that they are in prison. In fact, each team member does his best to forget that he (the team) are really in prison.
One key factor that helps the team be successful inside the prisons is the food, lots of food. From the time the participants enter the community center, until the last day, they have all they want to eat. It all begins with the cookies, because the moment the participants walk in, they are faced with all the cookies they can eat; a rare treat in prison.
After a time of introductions, sandwiches, chips and cookies, the meeting is closed for the evening.
The next morning, the team arrives at the prison about 7:30 and the whole group of team members and participants are strategically placed at seven different round tables. Each table seats three team members, and six participants. The idea is this, if the participants can get to know each other within the circle setting, then they stand a better chance of continuing the “circle setting” after the team is gone. Each of the seven tables has a Biblical name that becomes each person’s “family name”. In the “families”, each team member sits with a participant on both sides.
The day is filled with short talks about important topics like: the choices that these participants made to get them where they are; take a look at self and see what needs to be and can be changed; good food is served along with all the cookies, water, coffee and lemonade the men could possibly consume.
The third day is a little more intense with talks, but food and cookies are still two of the main objectives.
It was at one such event that I met Mr. Wise. He sat to my left at the “table of Peter.”
Mr. Wise hadn’t been very wise in his dealings of life; he got mixed up with drugs which in turn caused him to commit several crimes ranging from ramming through a police barricade to burglary. Mr. Wise spent several years in prison for those charges and then was released from prison. Unfortunately, about a year or so after Mr. Wise walked out of prison on parole, his parole was revoked for beating down a guy who accused him of sleeping with the man’s wife.
When I met Mr. Wise, he was a quiet man, never saying a whole lot. At the weekend event, Mr. Wise expressed his joy about being released from prison once again, but he didn’t have a place to live. I offered Mr. Wise a place to stay in my home, which he gladly accepted.
Upon arrival at my home, Mr. Wise began rebuilding his life with a passion, but he lacked stamina and drive. Mr. Wise was blessed by several people that were around him; his mother bought him a phone and paid for the plan; I gave him a place to live and food to eat; the neighbor allowed him to come over and eat dinner at times and bought him some clothes. Mr. Wise had it good and there was only one way for his life to go, up.
About a month after Mr. Wise arrived at my home, he began staying with the wrong crowd for two and three days at a time. Then it became his daily habit.
About a month after Mr. Wise quit coming home, he showed up looking to get the things that he left behind—the things that he so graciously received from other people’s hands like a TV, stereo, clothes; as well as a few of his personal things like his Bible, Graduation Cross necklace given at the prison program, some books and hygiene items. After Mr. Wise stuffed all the personal belongings he could carry in a trash bag, Mr. Wise was gone.
A week later, I came home from work and turned on the local emergency scanner; I begin listening to the local police discuss the arrest of a man. The PD describe the man as being “tall, about 6’4”, white male, scrubby beard, short hair, with a tattoo on his neck”. Alarmingly, these descriptors described the man who stayed in my home. As the scene played out concerning the suspect, the “tall man” broke into a house, stole some guns and prescription drugs, then walked two blocks and stole a car. Again, as I listened to the police call, the house just happened to be right next door to mine; it was my neighbor’s house.
About an hour or so later, that exact neighbor knocked on my door to tell me that his house had indeed got robbed, and that it was the same man who had lived in my house.
A week or so after the PD moved Mr. Wise into his new residence within the county jail, I proceeded to clean up the things that Mr. Wise left behind. Amongst the items left behind was his Graduation Cross necklace—a wooden cross on a hand crocheted necklace that is presented to each participant of the weekend. That’s when I thought to myself, “Huh. Mr. Wise has left his cross behind”.
John Jackson
2016
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