Some Favorite Words From Menno Simons 1496-1561

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I especially like the following quotes by Menno Simons, a contemporary of Martin Luther who became a prominent Anabaptist (free church) leader in the Netherlands and who died January 31, 1561: 

    "True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it returns good for evil, it seeks that which is lost, it binds up the wounded, it becomes all things to all people."

    "Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of God... to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people."

    "We who were formerly no people at all, and who knew no peace, are now called to be a church of peace. True Christians do not know vengeance... Their hearts overflow with peace. Their mouths speak peace, and they walk in the way of peace."

    "The regenerated do not go to war, or engage in strife. They are the children of peace, who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know no war. Since we are conformed to the image of Christ, how then can we kill our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords made of iron we leave to those, alas, who consider human blood and swine’s blood as having well nigh equal value."

    "Therefore, my precious brothers and sisters in the Lord, take the crucified Christ as your example, and the apostles and prophets of God. They were so endowed and trained by God that they knew nothing, sought nothing, loved and desired nothing but the eternal treasure--God--and eternal life." 

                - from the Complete Works of Menno Simons

Some Good News That Wasn't In Today's Paper

Over 100 people attended one of two sessions held at the County Administration Building yesterday in support of improving conditions for inmates at the Middle River Jail. 

Both the noon and 6:30 times had been planned as a screening of a Channel 29 investigative series about healthcare issues at MRRJ aired in December, but less than 48 hours before the event the station announced it was withdrawing its permission to have the documentary shown. So the planning group changed its focus to one of hosting two listening sessions to compile a list of concerns to present to the Board of Supervisors, the members of the City Council and the Middle River Regional Jail Authority. 

Among those in attendance were the mayor, a city council member, a member of the Harrisonburg City School Board, a former judge and two members of the County Board of Supervisors. In addition, a medical doctor with oversight of health services at MRRJ was present, not to officially represent MRRJ, but to personally respond to questions and concerns raised by former inmates, by family members of inmates, and other concerned citizens who were present. 

"It was an effort well spent!" commented Diane Orndoff, one of the event's planners. Everyone who participated seemed to agree.

TV-29 Decides It Must Pull Out Of Today's Screening--But The Event Is Still On

MRRJ

Breaking Announcement from local planning group: 

We will have a shift in format today since NBC Channel 29 has declined, as of 3 pm Saturday, to take part in the long-planned forum to be held at the Rockingham County Administration Building today (Monday) noon and at 6:30 pm. Thus we will not be showing their three part investigative series on alleged health care concerns at the Middle River Regional Jail that were aired on December 16-18, 2015, as we no longer have permission to use this copyrighted material. Due to this change, the sessions have been reformatted to focus on community input and information gathering to share concerns with Rockingham-Harrisonburg officials, members of the MRRJ Jail Authority Board and with the elected officials to whom they report.

Please attend. We need the involvement of as many taxpayers and concerned citizens as possible to help support the creation of the kind of criminal justice system that can be a model for the commonwealth. Our desire is to work collaboratively with all parties to help make this happen.

Guest Op Ed Post: "MRRJ Woes Need Fixing"

Middle River Regional Jail

The following piece appeared in today's DNR, written by Laura Crites and posted with her permission:

Channel 29 has done us all a service with its recent investigative report on the Middle River Regional Jail. Investigative reporter Tara Todd revealed that neglect, indifference to inmate medical needs, ignoring suffering and withholding critical medications by jail staff has resulted in the recent deaths of two inmates and untreated terminal cancer in a third.

This type of reporting is one of the two major forces that check the abuse of power in a democratic society.

Prisons and jails are ripe arenas for abuse of power by authorities, including prison staff. In 1971, Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo conducted the famous “prison experiment.” He randomly assigned students to the role of prisoner or guard. A pattern of abuse of authority by the “guards” occurred so quickly that he stopped the study abruptly. This study has been broadly replicated with the same results.

The abuse of power in prisons and jails affects most of us. As the drug epidemic continues to spread, people increasingly find friends, colleagues and family members incarcerated. Those with more resources, status and influence cannot isolate themselves from the experience of arrest, incarceration, the lifelong discrimination that results from a criminal record. The tragedy and challenge of a criminal record, prison time and drug addiction that has befallen so many members of the minority community over the years is now part of life for most of us.

Concern by the larger society for the well-being of those incarcerated by the criminal justice is long overdue. The “good news” is that those with money, status and “connections” now know what it is like. They can bring that influence to the hard work of reforming the criminal justice system.

So what do we do about the safety and well-being of our friends, family members and neighbors incarcerated at the Middle River Regional Jail?

First, we must be aware that our community contributes its population and its funds to MRRJ.

Second, we must recall that we have six governing representatives on the oversight board of MRRJ. They are responsible for the welfare of friends and family members incarcerated there.

Finally, we must recognize that we are the second major force in a democratic society that can act to protect our fellow citizens from becoming abused by those in power. But we must become an informed and engaged citizenry.

On Monday, concerned members of the community will offer the public an opportunity to attend a public screening Tara Todd’s investigation and participate in a discussion.

The focus is on encouraging and supporting our representatives on the governing board of MRRJ to address and seek solutions to the problems at the jail.

Family members of those incarcerated at MRRJ are urged to attend. The hosts extend a special invitation to six representatives on the MRRJ governing board and jail officials. Finally, we must all become committed to assuring that the jail’s leadership and oversight board members create a working environment, programs and philosophy that respects both guards and those incarcerated there.

This moment of change and reform of the criminal justice system will pass if we do nothing. More lives will be lost and suffering ignored if we do not act.

Please accept the invitation to become part of the solution. Attend one of the two meetings to be held on Feb. 1 (noon to 1:30) and (6:30 to 8:00 p.m.) in the Fire and Rescue Room at the county building, 20 East Gay Street, Harrisonburg.

Here's a link to more information on the TV-29 series: http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/12/channel-29-deserves-praise-for-mrrj.html

And another link to a petition signed by 19 courageous female inmates at MRRJ:

http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/12/nineteen-women-at-mrrj-just-because-we.html

Riding The Bipolar Roller Coaster

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In her book “Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament,” psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison examines the relationship between bipolar 1 disorder and creativity. She and many others believe that people with this condition have contributed greatly to the richness of our lives and our culture, people like Beethoven, Van Gogh, and Mark Twain, for example. 

Surely some Bible characters have had more than a touch of these symptoms, people like Jeremiah, Samson and some of the psalmists, for example. In Psalm 13 the writer goes from the God-forsaken despair of “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” to affirmations like “my heart rejoices... I am full of song... God is so good to me,” all in just six short verses. 

Unlike simple clinical depression, a bipolar individual is less likely to have their moods determined by losses or other external circumstances as by internal "brain storms" that are less easily treated with psychotherapy alone. The symptoms tend to have a genetically-driven life of their own, striking without warning and often persisting in spite of every effort to manage or modify their effects.

Formerly called manic-depressive disorder, this brain disease typically causes its victims to become very hyperactive, as in engaging in marathon binges of house cleaning, excessive shopping and/or other kinds of over-the-top and irrational behaviors, followed by a kind of emotional letdown that can be gut-wrenchingly painful.

Mood fluctuations are common to all of us, but these are extreme and can be debilitating. 

There may be a silver lining to the dark cloud of this disorder, however. The musical artist Leo Kottke once commented, "When you're manic, you create. When you’re depressed, you edit."

But the dark and despondent side of this condition calls for our special support and help. As with anyone experiencing a mental illness, being surrounded by a loving community is a major asset.

Of course that is true for any of us. Writer Gerald Shenk states the following, “Above all, I want them (our own adult children) to know the reality of a faith family network that vibrates with beauty and abundant goodness; a community whose thick fabric of care will be there for them through the best of times and the worst of times. Real families will always need real communities, both to survive and especially to thrive."

Good words for wherever we are on the mental health roller coaster.

Note: The difference between bipolar 1 and bipolar 2 is primarily in the degree of mania experienced. See http://bipolar.about.com/cs/faqs/f/faq_bp12dif.htm

Please Support Next Monday's Public Screenings Of TV-29's Investigation Of Middle River Jail

Jennifer Smith died unattended in a segregated cell at the Middle River Jail in October, 2013

The following is an excerpt of an op ed piece submitted to the DNR by Laura Crites, used with her permission:

What do we do with this moment when Channel 29 has surfaced reason for concern about the safety and well being of our friends, family members and neighbors incarcerated at the Middle River Regional Jail?

First, we need to be aware that the Harrisonburg and Rockingham communities contribute their population and their funds to incarcerating our citizens at MRRJ.

Second, we need to know that we have six governing representatives on the oversight board of MRRJ. As our representatives they are responsible for the welfare of our friends and family members incarcerated there.

Finally, as community members, we need to recognize that we are the second major force in a democratic society that has the power to protect our fellow citizens from becoming abused by those in power.  We can exercise that power by becoming an informed and engaged citizenry.

On February 1, concerned members of the community are offering members of the public an opportunity to become informed and engaged in responding to the outcome of the investigation by Channel 29.  Citizens can attend a Channel 29 public screening of the investigation by reporter Tara Todd and participate in a community discussion.

A focus is on inviting the community to join in encouraging and supporting our  representatives on the governing board of MRRJ in addressing the problems and seeking solutions to issues exposed by the Channel 29 report.

The chair of the Board of Authority, Mike Hamp, of Waynesboro, told reporter Tara Todd that he would welcome information on problems at the jail and solutions that might be implemented.

This is an important moment in the life of our community.  Family members of those incarcerated at MRRJ are especially welcome.  Those hosting the event are also extending a special invitation to our 6 representatives on the MRRJ governing board as well as officials at MRRJ.  There is a commitment to working together with MRRJ leadership and oversight board members to create a working environment, programs and philosophy that respects both guards and those incarcerated there.

Please accept the invitation to become part of the solution.  Attend one of the  two meetings to be held Monday,  February 1 (noon to 1:30) and (6:30 – 8:00pm) at the County Building, 20 East Gay Street, Harrisonburg.  Look for the Fire and Rescue Room for each meeting.

Here's a link to more information on the TV-29 series: 

http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/12/channel-29-deserves-praise-for-mrrj.html

States Should Get Out Of The Gambling Business

$48 MILLION

estimated cash value: $30 MILLION
odds of winning are 1 in 258,890,850

In light of all of the negative social consequences associated with gambling, legal or otherwise, should we find it disturbing that Virginia, like other states, aggressively promotes this kind of kind of tax on the poor (and the mathematically challenged)? 

If citizens really understood that the odds of a big win are comparable to being struck by lightning in a snow storm, and if they realized that spending even modest amounts each week on lottery tickets resulted in a huge total loss over a lifetime, they would wisely choose not to participate and invest that money elsewhere.

According to a October 16, 2014 article in the Richmond Times, the Virginia Lottery Commission hires not just one but six different advertising agencies to promote this unseemly enterprise, In the case of alcohol, the Commonwealth doesn't prohibit drinking but regulates the sale of spirits. But at least it doesn't advertise its ABC outlets and actively promote alcohol addiction. So why should it spend millions promoting gambling, knowing that it, too, is a highly addictive behavior that can be equally destructive to individuals and families?

According to a Salon article "Ten Reasons State Lotteries Ruin The Economy", state-sponsored gambling siphons some $50 million from local economies, and the negative effect on those rare few who do win huge jackpots is most often disastrous.

So shouldn't governments just get out of the gambling business as a means of helping to pay for public education, and instead start educating people against engaging in this irrational behavior? Or at the very least, to stop its aggressive advertising?

Sadly, our tax-aversive legislators have become as addicted to the lottery as are the poor and the ignorant who are deluded into investing in it.

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