Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in the grave, you are there.
-- Psalm 139: 7-8
Every week I visit two units of Elmwood Jail. Just to let you know what those visits are like, I should describe the units. Each is a long, rectangular room that holds approximately 60 men. Two thirds of that space is taken up with rows of steel bunkbeds, welded to the floor. Another one third is taken up by steel tables, also welded to the floor. Just beyond this, behind a low wall, are several toilets, washbasins and a couple of showers. Everything is done communally. A number of the men have been there for many months if not years while they await trial. There is absolutely no privacy.
Some 33 men crowd around one of the tables for bible study and the Eucharist that will follow. This is over half of those present. I am always astonished at the wisdom and compassion that comes from these men. This week the question is how to regard other religions. There are many different forms of belief in the unit, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Mormons, Muslims, and Jews, as well as non-believers. The text is from Romans 2:14-15, a passage that suggests that God's law is written in the hearts even of non-believers:
14
Even Gentiles, who do not have God's written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. 15 They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
In reflecting on this, to a man the group agreed that God is working in everyone's life. It makes no difference what denomination they are, what religion they are, or even whether they are believers or not. God is present to them.
"For me, it's not about what religion a person is," a man named Felix says. "It's all about their relationship with God."
"God loves everyone," another named Thomas adds. "We return that love by loving each other, by caring for each other. But even if we don't - if we're lost or confused - God continues to guide us, continues to love us."
"That's right," I say. "Desmond Tutu said, 'There's nothing you can do to make God love you less, and nothing you can do to make God love you more. God's love is already unconditional.'"
Thomas looks confused. "If there's nothing we can do to make God love us more, what are we supposed to do?"
"God can't love us more," I say, "because God's love for us is already as great as it is possible to be, but we can love God more. That's our task, to learn to love God more."
"And we do that by loving others," a third man adds, "even those who are not loveable - especially them."
I was so touched by this conversation from men who were once so lost and who society has scorned. The fact is, they are all so desperate in their search for God, and it is so clear that God is actively working in their lives. Even in this crowded cell, abandoned by society, you can feel it. You can see it in their faces, which are filled with such joy.
It just goes to show that it is often in the very darkest hours of our lives that we find ourselves drawing closest to God.
It's a Lenten lesson to remember.
Peace and grace,
Ernie
