Waiting--And Waiting--An Advent Behind Bars

For the incarcerated, waiting is especially hard.

"Christ doesn’t come for those who are considering how to enter into a spiritual season of waiting. Christ comes for those who already wait."  - Alan Sherouse

During Advent season there is always at least one lectionary text about John the Baptist. In the tradition of the Hebrew prophets, this lone voice heralds the coming of a day of grace and of judgment ushered in by the birth of the Messiah.

John's hard-hitting message results in his becoming a first century convict who finds himself on death row in a miserable Judean jail. While waiting in his cramped cell he struggles with doubts about whether Jesus, his Galilean cousin, is really the deliverer the world was waiting for. During John's short lifetime, he doesn't get to see the overthrow of the Roman empire and the promised release of captives living under Rome's oppression.

Two thousand years later, many captives in prisons all over the nation are still waiting. Hoping and waiting.

"Harold" (not his real name) is in his late 60's, and has been incarcerated at a Virginia prison for nearly three decades. He has a commendable record of behavior in prison and has tried to do whatever he can to better himself. Recently he was turned down, once again, for the geriatric release for which he is eligible. This in spite of the fact that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has been offered a place to live in a nearby city where he can get decent medical care as he faces his last years.

"Joseph" is a Rockingham County inmate in his 20's who was moved to the Middle River Regional Jail due to lack of space at our local facility. He continues to wait for some of the meds his doctor has prescribed for him for multiple mental health and physical needs. Raised in a single parent home, he was prescribed Adderall as a child due to an ADHD diagnosis, then at his 18th birthday was abruptly deprived of the medication to which his body had become accustomed, simply because he was no longer covered by Medicaid. In the distress of his withdrawal he began using street drugs to take the edge off his depression and anxiety. He clearly recognizes his need for help for his drug addiction, but gets no treatment while in jail. And while there he has been forced to spend most of his time in solitary confinement because he is considered a risk for suicide.

"Junior", in his 70's and legally blind since childhood, was recently transferred to the Deerfield Correctional Center, Virginia's de facto "nursing home" for aging and infirm inmates. He is a prolific poet and the author of a book about the abuse he experienced as a child and young adult. Junior is a diligent worker and has earned an excellent behavior record during his three decades behind bars. But in spite of his being eligible for both geriatric release and release as a deserving "old law" inmate, he was recently again turned down by an unforgiving parole board after having been denied release multiple previous years.

Meanwhile at our local jail dozens of family members and friends sign in very weekend to wait their turn to see a loved one for a precious half-hour visit. Many come from many miles away to have their brief conversation, always through a glass window in a concrete and steel wall. On the other side is their friend or family member in handcuffs and in an orange jump suit, something that can be traumatic for a child visiting their mom or dad to see. Family members also wait in vain to have someone heed their plea for an end to a $1 per day "rental" fee for every day their loved one is in jail ($3 if they have to be moved to Middle River Regional Jail). Until or unless that is paid, their inmate cannot make phone calls and cannot buy stamps, coffee, snacks, sugar, salt, mayo, ketchup or mustard packets to go with their meals, or make the obligatory $10 copay if they have to see a doctor or nurse. And there is a $4 fee for every deposit in the kiosk to add to an account.

All of these neighbors wait for the promise of Advent, and for the birth of "liberty throughout the land".

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"All creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed... in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."  - Romans 8:19-21 (NIV)