The legal system is filled with a spectrum of silos (victims, law enforcement, judiciary, medical, mental health, social workers, teachers, probation & parole, foster system, corrections, communities receiving those returning to the free world). And with each crime waves of damage pour into each of those silos and out from the individuals wounded in the silos into their families, communities, places of work, places of worship, volunteer work, sometimes for years if there is no opportunity to "detox" and heal. Each crime births rings of pain that spread further out and out some for for years.

This is why I am so passionate about teaching folks that we are all in this together.  

We may believe we live in a "safe neighborhood"...until a burglary or suicide or arrest for domestic violence or abuse a few doors down leaves us shaken and fearful.  We may believe we work in a safe place...until a shooting on a domestic USA military base clarifies how naive that is. We may believe that, although the working wounded beside us are struggling in silence with a sense of isolation, their issues are not our problem...until it dawns on us that we are adding to their pain by failing to see Jesus in their face. We may believe that we are "better", "nicer", more deserving of a "good life" that THOSE people, the people whose wounds are more visible and sins more public...until a letter in the mail or a knock on the door teaches us that "those people" are us and the people we love.

We are all broken and in need of rehabilitation, restoration, redemption. And we look in all the wrong places to ease our pain. We build walls that make us far less safe and embrace behaviors that consistently add to our pain...and so we again do MORE of the same things that are not working.

But in a breath we can take a chance, small though it may seem to us, that God speaks truth.  And here is that oh so unbelievable truth.  GOD loves us. God has always loved us. God will always love us.

But it is unbelievable because no matter how hard we try, we know the horrible truth...we don't feel very lovable. And the more we wade deeper into those lying behaviors that promise to assuage our pain, the yuckier we feel. And the harder it is to believe that a perfect God, the creator of all life and the complex systems that support life, could have any very personal interest in such a broken vessel as we know ourselves to be. Maybe we have even put our toe in the water and asked God to help us, hear us, but then we quickly embrace doubt and maybe even more destructive behaviors because it is so scary to think that God might not love us, that we are just too worthless, too horrid for God and that would truly be the end of hope.

So what do we do, filled with pain and doubt as the rage seeps out and leaves despair? I have this Bible verse printed large in my office:  "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24)  I love this because it reminds me of this truth: on my own this belief thing is just too hard to manage. But God, knowing this, invites us to say so and ask for help.  Now, my girlfriends would say, "Well isn't that awfully hard for the menfolk?" Yes, in truth it is hard for all of us in the truest parts of our hearts. The stronger we are, the more able the world knows us to be, the harder the humility thing is. But it is the essence of getting to the truth. It is our brokenness that opens us to the love of God. To the degree we are independent, self-dependent, we limit the room God can work in us (and through us). 

So I love this father in Mark who is willing to lay down EVERYTHING for love of his dying child. He loves and lives as Christ loves and lives for us. And he shows us the way when he prays, "Lord, I rely on you for everything, including my ability to rely on You!"

"And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

       One Week from tomorrow we will gather at The DO Justice Like Jesus event 
www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=do%20justice%20like%20jesus&epa=SEARCH_BOX afternoon includes six opportunities for discussions with people who are working to make smart changes to improve problems all long the crime to restoration spectrum. 

1. Our keynote speakers will share more personally at a break-out discussion about their work in the Indiana prison system as a chaplain and as a coordinator for Bridges to Life, a powerful program that gives voice to folks wounded by crime and helps folks who have committed a crime have a safe place to understand more deeply the effect a crime has on individuals, families and communities. (Remember that convicted folks are discouraged from admitting guilt about anything because they are often punished for any admission both before the fact and during appeals. And families sometimes withdraw support if the find behaviors unacceptable. But this limits their capacity to apologize or make amends or even understand the range of wounds their choices have inflicted!)

2. Greg Winship will discuss Restorative Justice concepts and how they are used in preparing incarcerated individuals to return to free world as people of value to their families and communities.

3. Caroline Giammanco, author of Behind the Death Fences: Memoir of a Whisleblower, speaks with authority as a former teacher inside a Missouri prison who has become a passionate advocate for more accountability and transparency in the Missouri Department of Corrections, and Nancy Lazar, the Director of the Kansas City Municipal Jail known as "the municipal Farm" at the time it was closed in 2009. She continues advocate against warehousing of detainees in ways that reduce community safety. Corrections officers have what may be the hardest job anywhere. It is soul searing in the best of circumstances. Government officials for Missouri and Jackson County face challenges and need informed voters holding them accountable.

4.  Americans for Prosperity is a grass roots advocacy group working with diverse partners to advocate for smart and proven changes to make justice more just, more accessible for the poor, make communities safer and families stronger, all of which has been eroding as our rates of incarceration have soared.  In this election year you can make a difference by asking good questions of people on the campaign trail and educate our elected officials and other potential voters about these issues.  You can make it clear to businesses that you support 2nd Chance hiring for people who are working to make better lives for their families and make amends for past mistakes.

5.  Gracious Promise coordinates volunteers working in jails to help detained people make changes that can restore hope, support good choices and be resources to empower them to become more of what God has created them to be.  I'm especially excited because they serve as resources for local churches who are ready to listen and love people who often have had little of either in their lives.

6. Children in abusive and negligent homes often find themselves in a foster care home.  For some this is a lifeline that restores the stability needed to make the most of educational opportunities.  But a recent expose by the Kansas City Star provides a stark and distressing picture of the high number of failures within foster care, especially when these children have been struggling for years in situations that have steadily declined so that by the time they are place in foster care. They have significant health, mental health and academic challenges that are too often not met.  They are at-risk for further abuse by sexual predators and sex traffickers. Within 3 years of aging out of foster care 70% have been incarcerated and a similar percent are single parents. Homelessness is common. Join the discussion about how these how some special folks work as volunteers work with CASA to advocate for these children. 

It will be a great day with many opportunities to consider how God might be calling you to be a part of important work.

It seems that our culture values "happiness" and "no anxiety" very highly. And the blow back from this attitude says "If you are not happy or if you are anxious you are a failure. You need to avoid stress and get rid of what makes you unhappy."

But for most of us, that is not just impractical, but actually rather horrid. You see, the bottom line is this: In this world the only people who avoid stress and reject anything that makes them unhappy are from my vantage point, really not happy at all.

When I avoid the challenges of traveling with those I love during difficult times I miss great joy in the pursuit of 'happiness and fun’.  People who never accept the challenge of persevering through setbacks to achieve goals that so often bless others may be missing out on personal satisfaction that they can't even imagine in the midst of the challenges.

Let me be clear.  I am a great believer in having boundaries and using those boundaries to take time to maintain healthy life choices and take time to restore and renew, even in the midst of challenges. But, honestly, is struggling such a bad thing?  

One thing that my work in justice advocacy and jail/prison ministry volunteering has made clear to me is this: we ALL have challenges and sorrows. A crime is committed. Someone is injured or has lost property, or even has lost their life. Not only is that person affected, family, neighbors, family, coworkers, church family, even folks watching on TV feel less safe. Into this painful moment someone dialed 911 and asked law enforcement to help.  The officers that show up may be battle weary veterans or rookies still trying to get in the groove.  They may have answered dozens or even hundreds of calls with similar issues or this time may be new for everyone.  EMTs may be called.  Firefighters may be called. Folks might go to the ER or longer term medical help may be needed. Social workers might be needed. Children may be headed to foster care. Classrooms may be affected. Detectives will try to unravel what happened and build a case, if appropriate. The municipal courts or county/state courts will wade in if someone is charged bringing prosecutors, legal aid and private attorneys into the process. There may be a jury, although this is increasingly rare (94-97% of cases are plea-bargained before or after their sentence has been served). Then those who suffered the original crime are patted on the head and sent on their way to pick up the pieces as best they can, usually barred from even asking "Why?" after the conviction. A convicted person heads off to serve their sentence, often believing that if they admit culpability it will mean they lose face and lose the chance to appeal even if the issue is the balance between wrong committed and size of sentence. They go to a jail or prison (unless they were detained so long pre-trial that they equaled or exceeded the sentence) where the sentence if often not carried out. A "two year" sentence may lead to death, increased mental illness, rape or other things definitely not mentioned at sentencing.  And for corrections officers who are expected to turn a blind eye to much that is deplorable, they too wind up being deeply wounded. At some point 95-97% of people who enter prison are returned to the free world, their families and their communities.  Unfortunately, the "corrections" part of detention is most often a cruel joke because the recidivism rate tells us clearly that not a lot of "correcting" goes on. Many folks who find their way to recovery in prison do so with the help of an army of unpaid volunteers who have a deep commitment to the brokenhearted. So off to the free world, skipping back to what?  More than 40,000 laws apply to people with a felony record that do not apply to those with enough money for more effective representation. They are often PTSD afflicted. In most places they can be freely discriminated against in jobs (even if the conviction has no relation to the job), housing, social services, even forbiding the restorative experiencing of volunteer -- again even when such efforts are in no way related to their crime. This not only makes building a productive life difficult for the person who has plead or been convicted of a crime difficult. It also makes a life of poverty much more likely for their children, and aged parents.

Which brings us to this fact:  Every person along the spectrum from crime through punishment and return to the free world, has a family that is also affected by what they have experienced, seen, dealt with professionally and personally. Each has been affected emotionally, physically, financially and, yes, spiritually because such challenges either draw us closer to God in our pain or leaves us trying to deal with all this on our own.

My point is this, each and every "crime" affects us ALL in the ever widening circles of pain and fear. Each silo of professionals along the legal spectrum see their own challenges, often with tender hearts for wounded coworkers whose broken spirits may be adding to the problem; they can be fearful of allowing the light of accountability and hope and new ideas in that offer hope for us all. But it takes great courage to advocate for change from within a broken system.

But God is bigger than this, for which I am deeply and profoundly grateful.  Slowly, painfully, across the country and in every state there are courageous people who are standing up and advocating for justice that is just, justice that respects ALL who are wounded, justice that shines hope where people who have made mistakes, often terrible mistakes, can still become or return to being productive contributors to society. They are seeking better ways to restore a sense of safety, not because we have built higher walls, but because we have addressed wounds earlier, tended all with PTSD whether they are a "victim" or a professional, or even the person whose personal junk blew up in someone else's life in a way that the legal system became involved. There are even people working to make changes long before the legal system steps in by improving educational interventions, funding mental health support, offering supported recovery for victims of crime, being great foster parents and advocates for foster kids.

Unfortunately there are still folks for whatever reason, who keep defending the broken system, particularly the part they feel "in control of".  They gain and keep power by playing on our fears and false assumptions.  

However as the number of incarcerated folks climbs, and the number of folks who are detained but eventually released without being convicted of anything grows, and as more folks are becoming more distressed with the stunning number of times that they have to deal with dangerous and outrageous issues along the legal system spectrum, for themselves and for their families and friends, the inappropriate shame is being overpowered by a very strong sense that justice and fairness is sadly missing in ways that are making this a less safe world for us all.

Please join us Saturday, February 29, 2020 at DO Justice Like Jesus to pray for all the folks who are struggling specifically because they are trying to keep us safe, trying to be better people, trying to recover from wounds that need not be repeated. Come to hear from people who work to advocate for justice, to woo and mentor folks to embrace hope and to learn skills needed to lead more productive lives, and to tend the brokenhearted all long the legal system spectrum.
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Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves. Hebrews 13:3 (CJB)

Use this link to learn about how your state helps poor and very poor folks recover from crime:     http://www.nacvcb.org/index.asp?sid=6

What do we want most deeply?  Scientific theory has postulated physical needs being met (water, food) that life might be sustained; safety, that life might be tolerable; a sense of acceptance, of being loved. The theory has adherents and detractors, but at least these three first needs seem pretty reasonable to most folks. As I watch my grandchildren, living where food and shelter and an absence of war leave them with a day-to-day sense of "enough" and safety, I am grateful.

Then the little darlings approach and surpass the teen years and start venturing forth into travel to far-off places and social experiences that curl my hair and, as their world expands they meet people I don't know, and as they experience loses and challenges...Yikes! My head knows these are essential to their personal growth and future safety, and an indication that they are healthy growing teens and young adults and now even less young adults. But this is just so hard.

I grew up in a family that held on tight and was proud in their belief that somehow their holding made us safer. I believe it made THEM feel we were safer; but sometimes I know we were so busy trying to get a little space to grow that getting space used energy that might have been better spent in watching for the dangers around us.

So I am trying very hard to be more cheerleader with open arms, and less harbinger of doom with wringing of hands. I am also more careful about the lessons I teach in the way I live. I can hardly expect someone to believe me when I say "God has got this" if I then exhaust myself with trying to "keep them safe" from my narrow vantage point and with my limited understanding of what safe looks like in the larger sense.

So my perspective has changed from crushing my loved ones to my chest with determined plans coursing through my head. Now I work harder instead to choose to thank God that God has indeed got all the "this" moments of challenge and even danger and even wounds.

• If my child travels or works where there is danger, I will choose to remember that those are the places where good people doing good work are often most urgently needed.
• If my grandchild talks of an area of study or mission trip that seems risky to me, I will let God handle the planning on that.
• If my spouse or adult child needs to make a job change that leaves me feeling anxious, I will let God handle that too.
• When people I love are going through tough times, I will give my own anxiety to God and be more fellow traveler and less advance recon commander and self-appointed project manager.

And I will hold my beloved ones gently, tenderly, trusting to their own ability and in God's perfect ability and willingness to handle all this without my supervision.

                                                                               ....at least most days.

Matthew 5:4 (MSG) “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”

I was speaking to an author recently and she commented that many pastors she speaks with say that Justice is a political issue and therefore not a proper part of church activities. I wish I was surprised.

Here is one thing the Bible says about this:  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Prov 31:9).  Once I started seeking the Bible's wisdom about justice issues I admit I was shocked at how many verses in both the Old Testament and New Testament speak to justice, advocating for the poor and needy, treating those in jails or prisons with compassion, and a passionate commitment to the making sure that "justice" is not a club to suppress the poor. 

One of the clearest ideas that is so strong in scripture is this: we cannot wait for to "the world" to get on the bandwagon to improve the lot of the poor and needy or administer justice that is just -- even most of the time. Current commercial advertising speaks to a kinder, gentler world to tout their goods and services, but working to defend the rights of the poor and needy is certainly not accomplished by driving a trendy car or drinking the right brew or buying the right insurance.

The longer I work in jail and prison ministry, and the more I learn as I study contemporary legal system conditions and potential reforms, the more overwhelming it all seems.  I have not found one social scientist so far that can speak to these questions: 

• Why does the USA incarcerate 30 times more people than Canada, although our crime rates are similar? 
• Although one in 27 children in the USA have at least one incarcerated parent and the financial, education and health ramifications of that do not end that day mom or dad is released; how does this play out in classroom challenges?
• Why, when 70% of children aging out of foster care are incarcerated within 3 years and they have a similar rate of unwed pregnancies, do we so often blame these youngest of victims for their "bad behaviors" rather than assure the mental health, physical health and education services needed to give them better skills to escape the foster care to incarceration and human trafficking pipeline?
• What do we expect from those who serve in law enforcement and in detention facilities? Story after story and courts upon courts are crying out for more humane working conditions. Suicides have been increasing for more than a decade for both law enforcement and detention professionals. Are we insuring the safest possible employment practices for them as they protect us?
• With inhumane working conditions rampant in jails and prisons, how can we be surprised that increasing numbers of lawsuits and investigations are finding extraordinarily inhuman conditions contributing to poor outcomes for the 95% of incarcerated persons that we are "conditioning" to return to their communities and families?
• Why are we still struggling to step-up for the 90% of trafficking victims reporting that their first contact with law enforcement was as offenders, not victims and, having been arrested, were too often released back to the person selling them rather than referring them to shelters or legal services for victims!

Does any of this sounds political?  Sure, there are plenty of political issues like bad laws that we have supported in our fear and naivete, and there are plenty of political types more interested in making personal hay or avoiding irritating the uninitiated than in taking a principled and informed stand. But all that begs the question. How can churches and individual Christians turn their backs on this growing public health crisis? How will you and I answer when God asks, How did you treatment me when I was in need, sick and in prison? (Matthew 25:43-45)

Please join the conversation this 29 February 2020 at DO Justice Like Jesus.  For more information use the Contact button or look for Do Justice Like Jesus on Facebook Events.  There are easy things that will help. There are opportunities to make a difference in individual lives, support chaplains working in such difficult situations, help your churches find ways to make a difference in ways big and small. There are things  you can do as i individuals.  It is a BIG job, but God is calling all sorts of folks to join His Army in protecting families, reclaiming lives, comforting those striving to be a part of ethical and effective professional work. Let's be a part of a wave of volunteers.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THIS EVENT, THAT THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO ATTEND MIGHT BEAR FRUIT AND FOR HEALING FOR ALL THOSE  ALONG THE LEGAL SYSTEM  SPECTRUM.