CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE AT CAMP ELKTON

This is the script of the Christmas Eve service that McFreedom (and his friend Larry) wrote for the inmate-led service at "Camp Elkton" this year.  He said it was so well-received that I asked him to send it to me.  I wanted to share it with you all so you could share in the "ministry" that is going on in this Federal Prison.

So take your seats and let me present:  "Christmas Eve at Camp Elkton"

Welcome:
Good evening and Merry Christmas!  We welcome you to our worship service tonight.

I know we would all rather be somewhere else on Christmas Eve.  However, here we are in the Elkton Chapel.

God has brought us all together in this place to celebrate the miracle of Christmas -- the Lord Almighty sending forth His only begotten Son to take on human flesh, thereby securing our eternal salvation, which is the very foundation of the Christian faith!

As we worship tonight in word and song, we should contemplate the enormous depth and breadth of God's love for us.

We hear Jesus' own words from the gospel of John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

And so, tonight, let us joyfully celebrate together in song as we contemplate our greatest Christmas gift;  our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was born in a manger.

Let's begin by committing this service to God in prayer.  (prayer)

Instruction:
Our service this evening will follow a different format than what we usually have in the chapel.
We will be using a traditional format that has been used since the 19th century called "Lessons and Carols".  This is often used in candlelight services on Christmas Eve -- only tonight we don't have the candles.

Each lesson tells part of the Christmas story from the scripture.  After the scripture is read, we will respond together with some classic Christmas Carols found in your hymnals.

After each Carol is announced, the organist (Larry da Lutran) will play the tune through once to get you familiar with the melody.  Just follow the choir as they sing.

Let's begin our lessons. 

LESSON 1:
Please stand with me as we sing hymn #145 "O Come All Ye Faithful".

Please be seated.  (for those of you reading this blog…you don't really need to sit and stand…just feel free to sing the Carols!!!)

Approximately 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born in a small little town with nothing better than a feeding trough for cows, to lay in.  This is the event that brings us together every December as we celebrate Christmas.

However, the Christmas story doesn't begin here.  The story begins another 800 years before Jesus was born.  The story begins with the prophets of old who told us that this miraculous event would take place in this tiny little town.

Micah 5:2 tells us:
"But you, oh Bethlehem Ephrathah (eff-ra-tah), are only a small village among all the people of Judah.  Yet a Ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past."

Now we look at the book of Isaiah where the prophet proclaims:

The Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel - which means, God is with us."

Now let's fast forward approximately 800 years and read what Luke records in his gospel.

"At that time, the roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken through the Roman Empire.  This was the first census taken when Quirinius (Ker-in-ous) was governor of Syria.
Everyone returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.  And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home.
He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.  He took with him Mary, his fiancee, who was now obviously pregnant.  While they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.  She gave birth to her first child, a son.  She wrapped him snuggly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them."

Please turn to hymn #141 and join us in singing, "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

LESSON 2:
Here in prison, we receive messages through different methods:  Email, postal mail, inmate.com, and of course the loud speakers!!  

The shepherds received the message of Jesus' birth in a way they had never seen before that night.

Luke describes it this way:

Luke 2:8-14
"That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.  They were terrified, but the angel reassured them."
"Don't be afraid!" He said.  "I bring you Good News that will bring GREAT JOY to all people.  The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!"
"And you will recognize Him by this sign:  You will find a baby wrapped snuggly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."
"Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others - the armies of heaven - praising God and saying:

GLORY to God in highest heaven, and peace on Earth to those with whom God is pleased!"

Please stand with us as we sing Hymn #132 "Angels We Have Heard On High".

LESSON 3:
Please be seated.

After hearing the message from the angels, the shepherds followed their instructions.  Both Luke and Matthew record the story as follows:

Luke 2:15-15
"When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
"They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph.  And there was the baby, lying in a manger."

Matthew 1:22-23
"All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through His prophet:
Look!  the virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they shall call him Immanuel, which means God is with us!"

Please join us in singing hymn 137 "What Child Is This?"

LESSON 4:
They found the baby in Bethlehem.  But this was no ordinary baby.  This baby is our Lord and Savior just as Isaiah prophesied and Luke explains:

Isaiah 9:6-7 
"For a child is born to us.  The government will rest on his shoulders.  And He will be called:
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and it's peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity.  The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's armies will make this happen!"

 Luke 2:17-20
"After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.
All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart, and thought about them often.
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
It was just as the angel had told them."

Please stand as you turn to Hymn #133 "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

LESSON 5:
Please be seated.

The birth of our Savior was not without controversy.  There were people who wanted to worship Him, and there were people who sought his demise.  Matthew explains this further in his Gospel.

Matthew 2:1-12
"Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod.
About that time some wise men from Eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews?"  We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him."
"King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.
He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"
"In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, for this is what the prophet wrote:
"And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel."
"Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.  Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child.  And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship Him, too!"
"After this interview the wise men went their way."
"And the star they had seen in the EAst guided them to Bethlehem.  It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was."
"When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.  Then they opened their treasure chests and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
"When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route,  for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod."

Please stand and open to Hymn #166 "We Three Kings Of Orient Are"

LESSON 6:
Tonight we walked together through the Christmas Story.  The story of God fulfilling his promise to send a Savior, a Messiah, to live on Earth along with us.  He came to show us the way to live in freedom.  He came to show us what it means to have true love, true healing, true hope.  He came to Earth to die on a cross.  He came to rise from the grave.  He came to give us the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation with Him, the one who created us.  This all began with his birth in the rural town of Bethlehem and Him -- lying in a feeding trough!

This is the very reason Jesus came to Earth.  The apostle John explains it further:

John 1:1-4, 14
"In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through HIm, and nothing was created except through Him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone."
"So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son."

Jesus IS the Word.  The Word came in the form of a baby in a manger.  He came to save us.  Will you let Him?  Will you accept His invitation of grace?

This same Jesus, is inviting you into a relationship with Him.  He desired to give you love, hope, healing and forgiveness.  All you have to do is accept His invitation, and He will pour out his grace over you.  He will clean up the mess in your life, He will mend your wounds, He will repair the broken mess of a life we created.

Please stand with us as we close our service tonight, let's sing Hymn #147 "Silent Night, Holy Night".  Sing it quietly and reverently in solemn reflection of our Lord Jesus.  The last verse will be sung without the organ.  After we sing, let's continue in quiet reverence as we exit the chapel.

Amen

Ever since this service, Bryan has had several of the inmates come to him to let him know how much they appreciated this service…that it felt so much like a Christmas Eve service back at their home churches.   Thank you, Jesus, for allowing McFreedom to be a flickering light in the darkness of the Federal Prison.

Mrs. McFreedom

CHRISTMAS WEEK AT CAMP ELKTON - PART 2

Many of the guys have already torn through their Christmas bags and devoured its contents.  There is real lack of self-control here.  I'm not suggesting that I have mastered the discipline.  I have a long way to go to have complete self-control.  But I have saved my Christmas bag.  It remains unopened waiting for the right occasion to open it - perhaps on the anniversary of my departure from the SHU.  After all, that is when I received my first bag from last year.

Christmas is a special time here with the daily mail call.  The big red mailbags are more full than usual.  We delight in the extra work the cops have to heave those mailbags onto the counter.  The smart ones use a wheeled cart to bring them in and then assign an inmate to lift it and dump it on the counter where our four e-mail computers sit.  We stand anxious to hear our name called only to respond with "pass" to have the mail handed to us like an old fashioned bucket brigade.

I received many cards and letters this season.  It is always encouraging to get a card or note from you all.  Thank you so much for sending them to me.  One of my favorite cards came from my wife.  She always has the perfect words on her cards; not only the words she writes, but the ones printed in gold or silver.  I am convinced that she either writes the message on the card and sends it to hallmark for printing or she knows someone there who writes them specifically for her.  They are always the best.  Besides her perfect cards, she sends me great pictures.  She sent me a picture of the Christmas tree Jake cut down for her this year.  It looks just as I remember it.  Full of lots of lights and ornaments and the tree itself is very full.  This is no Charlie Brown tree!  I have this picture tucked in ledge of the bunk above me so I can look at it as I lay down.  Along with this photo are the pictures of the Christmas cookies she made.  They look so good I want to eat the photo.  Yes I got many cards. And I thank each of you for the kind greetings you sent to me.  Christmas is way better out of the SHU.

Christmas day was a good day to sleep in.  Especially when this cold of mine is settling in.  We had some very light snow fall and it was quite cold outside.  I walked the hallway greeting everyone with a cheerful Merry Christmas greeting as we passed.  Even to my atheist and Buddhist friends received my greeting.  As much as they grumble over the greeting, they still partake in the holiday.  Christmas dinner was very nicely done over at the “Dirty Spoon Diner”.  We had roast turkey, ham glazed with maple syrup, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans with sliced mushrooms in them (I found two mushrooms) and of course, cranberry jelly.  It was all very good and there was so much of it.  I saved my ham and put it in an instant coffee bag and slid into my pocket for latter.  The pecan pie was the same as what we had for thanksgiving and it too made it's way back to my cubicle.  Thank goodness for big pockets in the jackets and elastic waste bands on pants!

That's the news from Camp Elkton this week.  It was a good week.  I miss my family but I enjoyed talking to many of you on the phone in those 15 minute slices of time.  I hope you all had a great time with your family and friends this Christmas season.  Don't forget why we celebrate Christmas each year.  It is not for the discounts, sales and special deals; It is not about the best gift or the biggest gift we get; Instead it is simply about Jesus.  He is the reason we can celebrate.  God gave Jesus to us as his gift to us so we can be reconciled to Him; to save us; so we can live forever with him IF we accept him.  He brings us love, He brings us healing, He brings us hope.  That is the best gift we could ever receive.  All we need to do is accept it.

May God bless you this Christmas

Love,

McFreedom

CHRISTMAS WEEK AT CAMP ELKTON - PART 1

Christmas sure snuck up on us quickly here at Camp Elkton.   The weather warmed up after Thanksgiving and melted all of our snow.  There have been a few storms that rolled through the Eastern seaboard but the snow seems to be attracted to the larger cities.  We get some of the left overs of the snow but it has not amounted to much.  Our snow crew teams do not get many early morning calls to clean the snow.

It turned cold here this week and the sky has cleared.  The snow on the ground barely covers the grass.  The change in temperature seems to have brought about a cold virus here in the unit.  Don, our retired miltary man here, has been hit very hard by the virus.  He has been hacking and wheezing through the night. You can tell it is severe by the deep sound of the cough and the heavy wheezing.  It makes you feel badly for the man and at the same time you are glad you don't have it. With the close company we keep here you wonder as you listen to him how long it will be before it makes the rounds to you.

We do have a medical department here but we have to pay $2.00 for a sick call visit, much like a co- pay at the urgent care facility on the outside where you are. Here at Camp Elkton we call this the "Don't-Care Clinic".   They generally are not interested in how you feel.  This is more of a triage to make sure you are not going to die and wind up with a lawsuit from your family.  Don was diagnosed with bronchitis and they gave him some steroids but they waited until it was quite advanced.  Residents here are good about "sharing" and I am the recipient of their good will.  I have come down with this cold virus now.  I hope it passes before Jeannie comes out to visit. For now, I will save the $2.00 co-pay.

One of my homeboys, Larry "Da Lutran", was a classical organist for the Lutheran church (hence the made-up last name) before he moved into our community this summer.  Like many of us here, he has been frustrated by the worship services we have at the Elton chapel.  I prefer the contemporary worship services that we have back at NRC and he prefers a more old-school worship service. More of a classic style of hymns and liturgical service. Larry abhores the contemporary worship style. I told him I graduated from the hymns to Contemporary worship.  He calls this mode of worship that I like "happy clappy" and the songs used in that service are 7-Eleven songs.  I asked him what he meant by that and he tells me that so many of these songs are 7 words repeated 11 times.  I laughed, but I instantly thought about the song "O Happy Day".  A song that has worn out its welcome on my list of favorites.  I argued with Larry about the Happy Clappy part as I am particulary fond of this style of worship.  We have agreed that people are akin to different styles of worship and both are acceptable to God.  We also agreed that it is not worth arguing about and we we can poke jabs at each style, as long as he agrees that I am right  at the end of the day!  Hahaha.

Larry is a fantastic organist who plays with passion on the keybards.  He carries a picture of the organ he played inside his offical Lutheran Hymnal that he had sent in to use here.  He has long grey hair and beard that he is letting grow wild.  He wears a headband made out of a scarf that looks much like a fez the shriners wear, only without the top and tassle. You can see his grey hair squezze out the top of his headband almost like a crown.  It is a unique look that only Larry can pull off.  When he is playing the piano or the organ here he plays with dramatic hand motions and really puts his shoulders into the movement.  His feet are sliding across the floor as though he had all those wooden petals that a real Lutheran organ would have.  It is a sight to see when he plays. He has also earned the name the "Mad Organist".

One day, after a chapel service, Larry cornered Pastor Culp and had me join him to ask if we could do a traditional style Christmas Eve service here.  Larry had an order of service already written out with six lessons of Chirsts birth and the classic carols that would go along with them.  Pastor Culp looked it over carefully and committed to verify the calendar for that that night if we committed to practicing and taking care of the details.  The deal was made.

Down the hall from the chapel, the recreation department has a small practice room with a studio piano, bongo set, and drums placed in it.  Anyone can sign up to use it and no talent is required. Each inmate is limited to two hours per week   This means that we had to have several members of the newly forming Chrismas eve choir to sign up for rehearsal time. So now we had daily rehearsals and sometimes twice a day.  

The choir was not a regular choir.  In fact, you probably would not have seen a choir like this in any church. Russ, another homeboy from Wisconsin, is our leader but he doesn't like to use traditional hand gestures of a choir director as he leads, rather he prefers to lead by correction after the fact.  Paul the Italian Catholic joined the choir and brought great enthusiasm to the group.  His ability to curse made it very untraditional but colorful.  Matt is another guy from the Catholic church who has suffered from cerebral palsy all his life but has not let the disease define him.  Dave who loves to speak in the Kermit the Frog voice, when he does not sing, joined our choir and sometimes helped with unscripted and mostly unwelcome dance moves.  He is not shy about "leaving the closet".  Bruce is other member who has severe insecurities about singing but worked hard to get it just right as he practiced.  With the exception of Russ, the choir members were not in any other choirs here at the camp, which started some buzz in the community as a new choir was formed.  We already have a Catholic choir and a pentacostal choir but now we have this new group and Nobody rehearsed as much as we did  for a single performace.  The other choirs only rehearse once a week but our choir practiced daily.

The plan was to have a couple of readers in the service to alternate in the service.  Pastor Culp had to be one of them as he was the offical chaplain.  However he had a reputation of going off script and free-lancing his thoughts.  Sometimes these rabbit trails of monologue would go for several minutes and then lead to another rabbit trail. Before he is done you forget why he started on this trail.   He does this in weekly services often.  After 15 - 20 minutes of this we lose track of the point he was trying to illustrate.  Larry feared that he would do this in the Christmas Eve service so he needed a plan.  Larry asked me to read the scripture in our rehearsal time to get a feel for how this would work.  He liked my ability to follow the punctuation so he assigned me to read the Scriptures.  He then decided to have me read everything with the exception of the last lesson.  He felt obligated to include Pastor Culp and that it would be safe to let him have the last one.  After all, if he went over our allotted time, it would be on him.

We had our final meeting with Pastor to go over the script that we wrote out.  We learned that Father Bernie pulled a fast one on us and scheduled a Catholic Mass for Christmas eve in our time slot.  So now we had to wait until they were done with thier service and dismatle the cathedral so that we could prepare for our serivce.  Larry was very dissapointed and ready to throw in the towel.  I could see how important this was to him and I reassured him that we would still have ample opportunity to have a serivce even if it was later than usual.  Word was spread about the special service and people were becoming interested in it.  Some were even surprised that we were doing this without using the existing choirs.  It was as though we had created a bit of a rift in the balance of the churches.  It is good to be radical once in awile.

Christmas Eve came and we had access to the chapel for final rehearsal.  Larry tuned up the organ to his liking and we connected a guitar amp to the organ.  This gave the organ a powerful sound in the Elkton Tower Chapel.  I found some problems in the script and made some last minute re-writes for the evening.  While we waited for the Catholics to finish the service, Pastor Culp invited me to sit in his office as we waited.  We talked through a few details.  I had written out the script for his lesson to give him an idea of the flow we were seeking.  I had told him that he could modify and make any changes he desired but he told me he liked what I had put together and would roll with it.  So we chatted about our families and my life before prison.  It was a nice conversation in the short time we had.  He is a good man with a high level of tolerance and understanding.  God has certainly gifted him for this role.

We had a good turn out for the candle light service - without the candles.  As I suspected, there were many there who normally do not attend any of the services.  It was nice to see new faces.  I stayed on track for most of the lessons and flubbed my lines a few times.  I was thrown off at the begining when they broke out in a routine habitual clap session they do in our regular services.  The choir did well and I didn't hear any of the foul words used in practice when mistakes were made. Kermit used a human voice the entire time and the "closet door" remained closed.  The organ pumped loud pipe sounds through the amp which sat right next to my ear.  I may have lost a little more of my hearing that night.  It was really nice to hear a room full of men belting out those classic carols.  O little Town of Bethlem,  Hark the Herald Angels Sing, What Child is This, We Three Kings, Silent Night, etc.  The service was about 45 minutes which had to be a record in the Elkton chapel.  This worked out well with the double scheduling so we didn't need to rush back for our recall.  It felt like a service we would have back home.

Finishing a service early or on time is so unusual here.  Most services the chaplain has to escape the service to accomodate needs of people from other faiths.  Tonight was different.  It was a graceful departure.  The choir gathered outside Pastor Culps office to chat.  Pastor Culp joined us and we had a pleasant conversation together.  Again, it felt much like a service back home.  I step back to watch this take place and I recalled how it seemed as thought the next step was to go out to Applebees and continue the conversation over some appetizers.  So I told everyone there that we should go to a local Applebees and that I would buy for them all!  This brought a good laugh as we knew it wasn't possible but the idea was welcome just the same.  Instead we headed back to the housing unit while Pastor Culp went home to build a fire and help his wife wrap presents.

Every year the BOP hands out a Christmas gift bag to inmates all over the nation.  These bags are filled with different typs of snacks from the commissary provider sealed in a large clear plastic bag.  Everyone knows they are coming and the day they arrive is very special.  After lunch on Tuesday, the voice announced a recall notice and everyone went back to the unit. We waited anxiously, knowing we were getting our federal Christmas present soon.  They brought each unit one at a time and had them line up on the sidewalk near the compund office near the visitation room.  We then entered the West entrance of the "Valley Ridge Mall" and walked down the hallway toward the commissary, the Elkton Walmart.  Inmates who work in the Commissary handed out the bags one at a time as we walked by the door.  There were several cops keeping watchful eyes on the whole process to make sure nobody was given an extra bag.  At the end of the hallway, the food service cop was handing out a bag of butter cookies and two packages of expired hot chocolate as a bonus gift.  Perhaps they were stocking stuffers  - without the socks.  We paraded back to the unit with more guards on the sidewalk to prevent us from re-entering the line to get another package.

The atmosphere of the unit was electric with excitement as inmates tore through thier bags.  The rustle of plastic bags filled the air.  Many didn't waste any time eating the food.  People were walking around the hallways holding up the items they wanted to trade.  It reminded me of trick or treating when I was young.  I remember how I would want to trade the candy I didn't like with my sisters.  I think we liked too much of the same items so it was hard to get more of my favorite candy.  The same was true here.  Everyone wants the bags of popcorn.  We can't get popcorn here anymore unless you are in the visiting room.  Well, that's not completely true, they are selling carmel corn for the holidays at the commissary.  I have several bags stocked up, but I wish they wouldn't have put all that carmel on it.  I will just have to suffer through it.

Stay tuned for Part 2 -- McFreedom

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM ELKTON!!

It's been an exciting week here at Camp Elkton.  There are so many things going on as we get ready for the Thanksgiving week.  I'm looking forward to having a day off so I can get caught up on letter reading and my new book I got called “Strange Fire” from John Macarthur.

The week started out off with “Mass Confusion” at the Catholic service.  You see, Chaplain Kulp who is Baptist and normally leads the Sunday service is on Maternity leave for a while why he helps his wife with the new born twins.  I'm sure she appreciates this as they have a pretty full quiver now with 8 arrows taking up a lot of space.  While he is out taking care of his family, Chaplain Johnson is filling in on Sunday for him.  Johnson is teaching and promoting his doctrine, which is very different than what most of us Bible-believing people have come to learn from the simple truths held inside the 66 books of the Bible.    The name for this doctrine is called "Oneness" as it opposes the Trinitarian belief that is taught in the Bible.  He holds a Thursday night study that he has coined as "Advanced Bible Study".  Many of us call it "Advanced Heresy" but we still go to listen and find out what he is teaching.  Lately, he has been teaching that the Bible, as we know it, is not trust-worthy as it has been tampered with by man.  There are some verses that were added and wrongly translated.  He is teaching that we must have the Spirit in us to know which part of the Bible is true.  Sadly many people follow his teaching.  I ruffled many of their feathers last Thursday when I raised my hand and asked if his church had a "special Bible" with any of these corrections already written in it so we could know what is true and not true.  His One-ites were upset by my question and started making comments that we should attend our own service.  I was getting tired of listening to him attack the authority of the Bible, which is the foundation of my faith. I'm not proud of how I dropped that sarcasm-loaded bomb in the room.  It was not done out of a spirit of love. After all, Jesus teaches us to Love one another even when it hurts.  I had to spend some time reading 1 Corinthians 13 a few times this week and meditate on what it is to love.  I miss my challenge coins.

Because Chaplain heresy is teaching on Sunday while Chaplain Kulp is on maternity leave, I decided it would be better for me to attend the Catholic Mass with Father Bernie.  I didn't think I would like it at first but I am beginning to understand the liturgy of the service.  We have a little book called the missalette ( I call it the Holy Hand grenade) which is a mini version of the Holy Missal the Father uses for the service.  This contains the readings, responses and the hymns that are prescribed for that day of the year.  They really plan ahead in the Catholic church.  The problem with this book is it is had several parts of the service spread throughout the entire book.  I took this back to my house and put post it notes in the sections I thought we needed to use so I would be ready at the next the service.  As it turns out, I was lost again.  I sat there in the service flipping from one yellow post it note to the next and not keeping up with the Father.  So I sat down with Paul my Italian Catholic friend who walked me through the Holy Hand Grenade.  He revealed to me that the Father does not always follow this  order and sometimes we simply had to guess. It will take awhile for me to be a good Catholic.

It's been unusually hectic at the Suds & Duds Laundry department the past few weeks.  We have six guys on our team and three of them have been replaced.  It's like starting over with a whole new team now.  The first to leave was our tailor.  Garza is a great tailor and did some amazing work here.  He was transferred to a prison closer to his home in Texas this fall.  I was appointed to be his replacement.  This made perfect sense since I had absolutely no experience using a sewing machine or performing repairs on clothing.  Fortunately, I had some time to work closely with Garza who is an excellent teacher.  He is patient and forces you to think through the steps carefully.  I have a long way to go to be as good as him but he has given me the tools I need to become a good tailor.  In the time I worked with him, we became good friends.  He taught me allot and not just about sewing. My boss jokes around with us and he would come out of his office asking me why it takes so long to finish a job.  He announced to everyone that he is having second thoughts about hiring an old white man to be tailor.  He insists his best tailors are Hispanics as they are the most creative.  I hope to prove him wrong so I take this as a challenge. 

We hired a quiet young man to replace my old duties of blanket folding and cleaning.  It took about twenty minutes to get him trained in on the duties.  He was blending with the team well until he was hauled off to the hole during a visit with his wife one Sunday.  It turns out he was struggling to cope with his ten year sentence and she was bringing in some prescription drugs for him on her visits.  The guards caught on to him and caught them both.  It is sad to see them make such an egregious mistake like this as it will make his life even more difficult.  He will likely lose his "good Time" credit and will definitely lose visitation rights for at least a year.  His wife could face formal charges and likely lose her nursing job.  The kids will suffer the most as they risk losing both parents when they need them the most.  How tragic!

We picked up another man to replace him.  He is from the Dominican Republic and is not as quiet as the first.  He too is a good man and he brings his Spanish to help translate for my Colombian friend who speaks broken English.  He has been looking over my shoulder as I work the machine so I need to ready in case he wants to move in on my position.

Our youngest employee who ran the dryer department at the Suds & Duds has not been happy for some time.  He likes do everything his way and does not like to work with the team.  This has caused many frustrating arguments and often he will end up pouting as he would crouch down in the fetal position in front of the dryer wall.  He left many of us wondering what his mental state is but it is quiet clear to me.  He has been partaking in the wiccan beliefs and has been reading more books about Satan.  He is clearly tormented by the demon inside him.

He resigned his position this week and even tried to get his friends employed to replace him.  Our boss was wise enough to see through this and asked us to find someone to replace him.  We found another old white man to replace him so no I have some solidarity in the department.  Now we can focus on rebuilding the community of the laundry department.

We had our first winter storm hit us this week.  The CNN scroll bar announced it was officially a Nor'easter.  I realize we are not near the coast but my thoughts went right to the song by Gordon Lightfoot about the Legend of the Edmond Fitzgerald.  The gales of November came late this year but we are safe on dry land here at Camp Elkton.  The snow started falling Tuesday afternoon and continued into the next day. 

It was a pretty snow, gently falling as it glistened in the brightness of the yard lights.  The accumulated snow made it very quiet as it absorbed the sounds.  With the arc of the lights illuminating the snow as it fell made me feel as though I was inside a snow globe that was shaken up by some curious giant.  The snow settled on the chain link fence. Snowflakes stacked on top of them selves as they filled up the squares of the chain link.  I took a walk along the nature trail and look outside the fence to see the snow piling on the branches of the leafless trees along the ridgeline of the valley.  There were no deer out in the meadow where they usually come out to graze and frolic.  Perhaps they were not ready for the snow.  Or maybe they stayed at home where it was warm and dry. Probably watching America's Funniest home videos while the storm alerts scrolled on the bottom of the screen.  Most people do not realize that deer are a pretty good study of human behavior.  They get this from watching television.  The older deer tune into the hunting shows and love watching the commercials for all the latest gadgets hunters use when they go hunting for deer.  This is what makes the deer so wise.  But I am sure the deer here on Elkton Mountain were simply hanging out down in the lower part of the valley near Beaver Creek.  It is a good time to hang out in the quiet part of the valley.  I finished my walk around the never-ending nature trail and headed in for the night.  It is nice to have winter but I will be happy when springtime comes around.

This is a very pretty Thanksgiving here on the mountain. The snow stopped falling and the grass is all covered up outside my window.  The snow is sparkling as the sun reflects of the flakes.  It is cold outside but it is a good cold; the kind of cold that makes it nice to come in warm up inside with a cup of apple cider and some warm popcorn.  Well, It may be a while before I have the cider and popcorn but I am warm.  It is a good time to think about all the blessings that God has given my family and me.  Blessings that fall like the snow and collect in the crevices of our lives.  The accumulation of the blessings form the landscape of our lives.  A landscape created by God if we let him.  Sometimes God needs to shake up our world so we can see where the blessings fall and cover up the broken mess in our lives.

Today we had our big turkey dinner at the Dirty Spoon Dinner at the Valley Ridge Mall.  The kitchen staff has been roasting full turkeys all week long because the ovens can only hold so many birds at a time.  When they are done roasting the crew carved them and shredded them into pans for reheating today.  Yesterday, I asked one the kitchen staff who ate with us at short line how many of the birds have flown the coup already.  I guess it was not really flying but more of act of smuggling.  He said they were missing seven of them already.  Many of these birds found their way in to plastic bags and then into the pants and jackets of kitchen workers all the way back to the unit for distribution at the local food mart.  We wonder how many of them made out of camp in the trunks of cars as they made their escape.  This we will never know for sure.  But I am sure that our government factors in these losses into the order process.  We did not run out of turkey today at all.  I could not finish what I had on my tray.  We had so much food I had to lay down to let it settle for a while.  The meal was even better than the Thanksgiving food I had in the hole at Terra Haute last year.  So once again I am thankful for what I have.

We had some mini pies served for desert.  There were pumpkin and pecan pies in tiny little tin pans.  I was blessed to have these pies for last week as our boss able to procure a couple of cases for the suds & duds team to enjoy.  It is nice to have a boss who watches out for us and makes our stay here more pleasant.  I have a few pies left in my locker and they are calling my name.  Restraint. I must show restraint.  I hope to make them last through the weekend or at least until Friday.  They are delicious but certainly not as good as those my wife makes for me.

So I hope you take time to reflect on the blessings that you have accumulated in your life this year.  Sometimes we don't realize that we had so many because we get so wrapped up in the busy details of our lives.  We need to stop to and talk through all the things God has blessed us with. Yes even some things that don't seem like blessings at the time.  So as you sit around the table with family and friends  or perhaps by now you are scrounging for left over's while you mourn the loss of the Packer game, revel in the companionship of family and friends.  Even you don't always agree in everything you are still family and friends.  Life is so short. It is our relationships that matter more than jobs and toys.  Encourage each other with kind words filled with gratitude.  Share how God has been working in your life even if you have had a rough year.  Speak of the Mercy He has shown you and the Grace which he has poured out on you because of what Jesus did on the cross for us all!  This is not cheap Grace!  It is not our Grace so don't hoard it.  Give it back to those who are in your life!

That's the latest news from Camp Elkton here on the mountain.  We are doing well here and God is blessing us.  You can sleep well tonight knowing the guards are earning double time with their feet up on the desk.  They will not let us out and they will use all their fingers as they count us through the night.

God Bless you all

McFreedom

"ESCAPE-PROOF REALITY"

It's Saturday night and I feel compelled to write an update, which is long overdue.

After dinner, I watched the sky, with its amazing color show.  A large patch of clouds with a wavy appearance, much like the wind carves waves in the sand.  The clouds were a brilliant burnt orange against the turquoise sky.  The trees on the West side have dropped most of their leaves.  The trees stood as silhouettes against the harvest sunset skyline.  The strong afternoon wind has slowed to a barely noticeable breeze, giving the orange windsocks a rest for the night.

One of my homeboys came outside and we walked along the never ending nature trail.  He has been reading the "Pure" book I gave him and he had a few questions that we discussed.  I shared with him how we can remove the power sin has over us when we confess it to each other.  I told him about the freedom I found from my sin when I shared with 18 men in the loft at Valleybrook Church two years ago.

He's not ready for that step, but he is not giving up.  We finished our talk and he joined his bocci partner on the court as I headed back to my cube for an evening of writing and listening to the "Prairie Home Companion" show.  I find this to be one way to stay connected to home.

Tonight's show was broadcast live in Bemidji, MN.  They had a couple of local deer hunters on stage talking about the day's hunt.  I thought about my home boys back in "Tinysota", wondering if they had any success this opening weekend.  I have always enjoyed hunting with them, even though it is expensive to purchase an out-of-state license.  Those trips are over for me know, but I will always have the memories from our adventures at Deer Camp.

The show continued with the classic introduction "Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone…"
My favorite part as Garrison tells the attest news in this mythical town.  Just as he started the story, my friend stopped by to talk.  This friend came to me earlier this week asking me and another Brother in Christ to check up on him as he was feeling very depressed.  The government had seized all of his bank accounts to collect his penalty.  The problem was, they could not locate one of his accounts, which sent him into a panic as it was all he had.  We prayed about it on the cold, aluminum soccer bench and encouraged him with a few verses of scripture.

I could tell he was doing better tonight, as he appeared to be confident and smiling as he waited for me to remove my headphones to talk.  He had taken our advice from the other day and called his Power of Attorney representative, who confirmed his account was intact.  The government was not able to find the account because they had not provided the correct information.  He was clearly relieved at the good news, and wanted to share his answered prayer with me.  After he left, I put on my headphones in time to hear Garrison say, "And that's the news from Lake Woebegon!…"   Oh well, it was worth it to hear my friend happy again!  The show wrapped up with an interview with Paul Bunyon.  Paul shared how he was kicked out of the Lutheran Church because he was "too big" for his britches.  So he joined the Unitarian Church, who though he was God.  I enjoyed a good laugh.  I will have to share this with my Lutheran friends tomorrow when we attend the Catholic Mass together!!!  I probably need to explain that last sentence, but you will have to wait for the NEXT post!!

I went to refill my water bottle at the ice room down the hall.  This would only take three minutes to complete, unless…

Yes, I was stopped by another Christian Brother along the way!  I call him, Angry Tom (name has been changed to protect the … innocent … or guilty), since he has a problem with - you guessed it - ANGER!  A few weeks ago, Tom stopped to talk to me as I watched some guys playing softball.  I have learned to be very careful not to talk about things that get Tom fired up.  Things like his anger problem and military service.  Of course, he brought up the military in our conversation.  I could see him change from pleasant to angry right before my eyes.  The veins in his neck appeared, his body stiffened and his neck stretched like a turtle poking his head out of his shell.  His neck stretched even farther and he positioned himself closer to my face.  His tone was sharp and he splattered his spittle as he spoke.  He asked me why I didn't serve in the military?  There is no possible answer I could give him that would satisfy him so I kindly replied to him that I did not want to talk about this with him.  This did NOT please him at all, so I braced myself for what was next.  He glared at me and then shouted in my face that I was a "coward" for not serving my country.  I did not respond by quietly prayed for him.  He repeated his accusation as though I did not hear him the first time.  He walked away in a huff, but returned to use some more obscenities, as he impugned my character at the softball field.  This was not the first time he has done this to me and others.  Sadly, he has been defined by his outbursts of anger and pride.  I forgave him in my heart, but he would not speak to me for weeks.  I made a point to say "Hello" to him when we passed in the hallway.  One day I shared in the chapel about what God was doing in my life.  I looked at Tom and he was staring at the floor to avoid me.  Pride!!  The other day, I passed by Tom as he sat on a bench in the recreation yard.  I almost tripped when I heard him say, "Hello" to me.  I replied pleasantly.  Each time we passed, he was becoming more open and even began to hold conversations.  I keep a tight boundary around our meetings as I don't have much confidence in him.

So getting back to my water bottle refill…

I ran into Tom and he wanted to talk.  So much for a three-minute-trip.  He had to tell me that some one retaliated against him.  Earlier he had an argument with someone else who was not happy with his hygiene.  I overhear that fight.  What makes me sad is that he is very vocal about being a Christian, as he quotes Bible verses in his conversations.  His pride and subsequent haughty attitude takes away the meaning of these verses.  It simply reflects poorly on the cause of Christ.  I finally escaped the conversation with Tom to catch the end of the show, but I was too late.  The show was over.

The next show on public radio is called "Mountain Stage".  They feature different musical guests with a folk and acoustic theme.  They travel around the country and this show was recorded at the Folk School in Grand Marais, MN.  I was instantly transported to a place I know and love.  I could picture the harbor and the Big Blue Lake in the background.  The big hill behind me is the entrance to the Gunflint Trail, which leads to the place where I proposed to my beautiful bride!  I had escaped my cube and landed in a great place on a warm sunny day with the cool lake breeze blowing inland.

I decided to make a sandwich, since the chicken and tofu dinner was not very filling.  I was told the tofu was added because the inmates who work in the kitchen have stolen so much chicken, they didn't have enough for dinner!  This has been happening quite often.  I picked out two slices of bread that weren't all that moldy yet and placed them on my locker top.  I opened a package of single-serve spam and squeezed it on to one of the slices of bread.  I bought a bottle of olive oil at the Commissary, so I thought I would use it on my sandwich instead of the Mayo packets I would normally use.  I grabbed some tortilla chips, my sandwich, and lounged on my bunk.  But really, I sat in a lounge chair in Grand Marais, listening to the show.   My imagination transported me there for a short time.  I wish my imagination could have changed the flavor of my Spam sandwich to more of a steak sandwich!!!  By the way, olive oil and spam do NOT compliment each other well…just in case you planned to rush out and pick some up at the store.

After my experimental snack, I went back to writing, so I could finish quickly.  My neighbor stopped over to chat with me for a while.  So much for writing!   It was a nice conversation, but I didn't really want to talk.  I wanted to listen to the music of Grand Marais and write.  I continued our conversation as he is a good neighbor and friend.

After the conversation ended, he left and I quickly put on my headphones and picked up my writing pad.  I didn't get very far when another friend stopped by to chat.  I was ready to give up my attempt to write.  I was also feeling anger welling up in my gut, because of yet another interruption.  But I knew this wasn't right.  After all, I had told him to stop over any time he wanted to talk.  I didn't explain to him that he had to make an appointment with my secretary first…ha ha ha.  I needed to honor my word.  While we talked, a co-worker from the Laundry stopped by to talk, but he could see we were talking about the Bible and he didn't have much interest in that topic.  He gave me a measuring tape and fabric chalk so I could use it for making alterations on inmate clothes.  Oh, by the way, I have a new job!!!  That is another story for when I can find time to write.  Now it's time for the 9:30 p.m. count, which means I'm getting tired and will lose my light soon.

After the count, I made a call home to my bride to learn she is coming down with a cold.  I finished the call when the timer cut us off mid-sentence.  I turned on my book light and started writing.  FINALLY!  Now I can write in peace.  Or so I thought!!  Merle  (Yes, that is a fake name, to protect the GUILTY) stopped by when he saw that I was awake.  Merle is a long-winded, half-hearted Buddhist who is going through "the Program" for sex offenders.  We hadn't talked for some time, but now we were going to catch up.  So we did.  He is a good man who is really working to make changes in his life.  I have tried to talk to him about Jesus, but he doesn't want to hear about Him.  But I still talk about Him in our conversations.  Even if he is not interested in my Faith, I will still be his friend and be there (here) when he wants to talk.

Merle was my last conversation of the day, literally, as it ended at midnight.  I want to finish this post so I decided to stick it out and complete it.  It is now 1:30 a.m.

I shared with you an example of how my days (nights) often become filled with unplanned opportunity.  I often feel like I have not accomplished the things I intended to do.  Things like:  reading my Bible, reading books in my locker, writing letters and cards, preparing for my advanced Heresy Study (oops!  I need to write about that topic too, when I get time!)  It must seem odd to read that an inmate is too busy to get things done.  Believe me when I tell you that it is a strange thing for me to even write it.  I have been feeling guilty about my lack of time to get things done.  I have applied to a local seminary who offers tuition free correspondence courses designed for inmates.  I was worried about keeping up with the homework.  Many inmates here signed up for the program.  One of my friends received a postcard from the school informing him they are postponing the enrollment due to lack of funding.  I was actually relieved to hear that.

I explained this to Jeannie when she came to visit me last weekend.  (No spam was served during her visit!!)  As we talked about it together, I began to realize how much of my time is spent on "relationships".  Could it be that this is what God wants me to do instead of isolating myself into a college level program?  Then Jeannie interrupted me and said something like…"Relationally loving people to Christ-Centered Wholeness?"  To which I replied, "What did you say?"  I heard her say it, but it didn't sink in.  It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.  She reminded me that this is the Mission Statement of our home church, Northridge Church, in Marshfield.  My mind started to make the connection.  Is this what being a missionary inside a prison is about?  It seems so simplistic.  Isn't relationship the core of discipleship?  It's not about a program…it's about a lifestyle.  It's more about influence as a result of our intimacy with God.  It's about listening to the Holy Spirit as He guides us, even when His plan does not match the plan I have.

Perhaps the interruptions are worth the time invested.  Perhaps I can pursue some less intensive study to further my knowledge.  Perhaps I can find some balance and maintain flexibility in the open door world.

Please pray for wisdom and guidance as I try to find my position in "ministry" here behind the razor wire.

It's approaching 2:30 a.m. now.  If this were a work night, my alarm would be going off in 30 minutes to start my day in prayer.  I can sleep in tomorrow (today, I guess) but I need to make it to Mass at 8:00 a.m. … or, I may just sleep through it.

P.S.  Remind me to tell you about Hampster Hank from Algoma, when I get the time!!!

Good night from Elkton…..Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

McFreedom out.