Visit with a Death Row Inmate – 

A Lesson on Teaching God’s Love

(Originally, I wrote this essay as a weekly installment of The Pastor’s Pen, a column in the newsletter of a local church in Nashville, TN where I served as Senior Pastor from October 2000 to May 2008)

On Thursday, November 8^th, I had the experience of a lifetime.  I visited Abu Ali, a death row inmate whose execution is imminent.  Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court summarily refused to hear his appeal of his death sentence.  The Tennessee State Supreme Court soon will set a date of execution.  Although another appeal has been made with the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, it appears Ali has exhausted all of the appeals, which the system offers.  Excluding an unforeseeable stay of execution, court ruling or a commutation of his sentence by the Governor of Tennessee, Abu Ali will be put to death by the State shortly after the New Year begins.  However, our conversation of an hour and a half, including a colleague of mine, challenged me to more seriously consider the meaning and worth of life.  Having spent fourteen years on death row, Abu greatly desires the inherent worth and dignity of his life on earth and his gifts as a spiritual being are not blankly dismissed.

An unflinching and misguided loyalty significantly contributed to Abu’s death sentence.  He acknowledges his presence at the murder of a drug dealer and the assault on the drug dealer’s wife.  Abu participated in this crime because of his unrelenting belief that children and youth should be protected from violence, physical and systemic.  Because Abu considers drug dealing an assault on future generations of our children, he went to scare this drug dealer.  Unbeknownst to him, his counterpart turned violent and began stabbing the drug dealer and then attacked the wife.  Abu, realizing that children were present, immediately moved to protect them and ensure they would not be harmed. 

Suffering from PTS, posttraumatic stress syndrome, Abu blocked out the entire episode.  When subsequently questioned by police detectives, Abu was virtually unable to recall any details.  Thus, he could not adequately exercise his civil and legal rights.  However, his counterpart fled the state; when captured, this man immediately made a deal with the cops and prosecution by naming Abu Ali as the main perpetrator of the crime.  Whereas Abu could have named his counterpart and made a deal, Abu’s sense of loyalty would not let him do so.  Abu now realizes just how misdirected his loyalty was and has been throughout his life.

In addition to an unwavering commitment to children and youth and his virtue of loyalty, Abu deeply values his relationship with God.  He says, had he been taught the love of God and its universal application to all people, he would not have ended up on death row.  Abu’s childhood was simply horrible.  A MP (military police), Abu’s father disciplined him with a bully club and other torture tactics.  Abu would be locked in closets for hours without light, food or water.  Those despicable acts culminated in the posttraumatic stress syndrome that ultimately undermined Abu’s ability to assist his attorneys in the preparation of an adequate defense.  Yet, Abu insists all that horror and its ensuing consequences could have been nullified by God’s love.  Fortunately, Abu has found the love of God.  He shares it with his fellow inmates.  He firmly believes God’s love makes the ultimate difference in determining one’s fate in life.  It can arrest the emergence of a potential felon.  Also, it fundamentally rehabilitates hardened criminals into productive and contributing members of society.

Visit with a Death row Inmate - A Lesson on Teaching God's Love Part II

Visit with a Death Row Inmate – A Lesson on Teaching God’s Love Part II

(Originally, I wrote this essay as a weekly installment of The Pastor’s Pen, a column in the newsletter of a local church in Nashville, TN where I served as Senior Pastor from October 2000 to May 2008)

The truth is equally important to Abu.  I asked him if his sentence were commuted to life imprisonment by the Governor would he consider that a just resolution.  He said no because he has been imprisoned under false pretenses, without adequate legal representation and with prosecutorial misconduct.  Moreover, Abu’s counterpart and those who financed the Southeastern Gospel Ministry, organized to eradicate drug dealing in the Black community, have never disclosed all of the facts relating to the crime.  Abu was promised funds for legal representation, which never materialized.  Those whom he trusted and to whom he was detrimentally loyal have never visited him nor spoken on his behalf.  They appear content to allow Abu to be put to death unjustly.  Essentially, Abu seeks a full disclosure of all of the personal, psychological, religious, racial and legal circumstances relevant to his incarceration and impending death.  His vehemence about the necessity of the truth is most admirable.

Abu talked at length about the need to heal the whole person.  He experiences this healing daily and strives to share it with others.  Abu is a model prisoner having educated himself and obtained the respect of the guards as well as the inmates.  My colleague asked Abu how would one effectively reach the young men on the streets and the incarcerated ones who could be rehabilitated.  Abu responded by listing all of the components of a person’s character: mind, family, sociology, psychology, spirituality and emotions.  More significantly, he said just listening is extremely important.  One must hear a person’s story in order to help him.  He told us if committed chaplains came with the intent of hearing a man’s story and what he wants, then they would be able to infuse him with some of what he needs.  Abu’s thoughts on the whole person resemble Jesus’ approach in preaching, teaching and healing.  Discipleship development and evangelism must seek to make a person whole and not merely convert him to a way of thinking nor enroll him within an organization.

Ironically, although I sat on death row and talked with a man’s whose death looms in the background, our conversation centered upon the essence of life.  Abu wants everyone to know his uniqueness as a child of God and his spiritual contributions to humanity as he journeys on earth.  He does not want the state to rob him of this divine significance.  He desires for all of humankind to recognize our interconnectedness in the universal love of God.  Passionately, he hopes that young Black men and children can be saved from a life of crime.  If he were ever to gain physical freedom, Abu wants a family with a house and the chance to work with troubled youth. 

Even though his loyalty was not reciprocated, Abu does not regret that characteristic within his personality.  He merely wishes those to whom he was loyal would have been more appreciative.  As long as life continues, Abu will fight for the truth.  He wants the truth of his situation to be revealed.  In addition, he wants society to recognize the truth of it systemic violence on women and children.  In essence, Abu Ali integrates all of his experiences, the knowledge he has gained and his growing spirituality into wholistic life as a child of God.  Summarily, this death row conversation reaffirmed the importance of spiritual matters in life: the love of God in Christ, love of family, inner healing, service to humankind and wholistic growth as a disciple of the Lord.

Who Will Leave My Body? - Reflection on Life and Eternity

Who will leave my body?

At one juncture in my first pastorate, the congregation and I experienced eight deaths within a month and a half.  That amount of bereavement is the most I recall in such a concentrated period of time during nearly twenty-four years of ordained ministry.  In fact, it is the most I can recollect.  Nonetheless, I think death affords us an ironic opportunity of meditating upon and redefining life. 

Deaths of contemporaries awaken anxiety within most us.  Inevitably, we leave wakes and funerals with a dreadful thought, “That could have been me.”  We might even summon courage to ask, “Why not me?”  Understandably, you might actually whisper silently to yourself, “I’m glad it wasn’t me.  Thank God I’m still around to enjoy life, love and my loved ones.”  Hopefully, these thoughts encourage us to consider more seriously life’s purpose and meaning.

Hence, I ask the question, “Who will leave my body?”  We are spiritual beings, made in the image and character of Almighty God.  We reside in material, human bodies, formed from the dust of the earth.  The writer of the great hymn, Sweet Hour of Prayer,” describes death as “dropping of the robe of flesh,” preceding the soul’s ascension to heaven.  Answering this fundamental question requires thinking deeply about priorities, goals and purposes.  As spiritual beings on an earthly journey, we evolve and emulate the qualities of Christ.  We cannot progress in this spiritual quest unless we straightforwardly determine it is the reason for which we live.  At the end of life, will a highly evolved spiritual being who once had a human form leave your body and enter into the fullness of his or her originally and eternally created spiritual nature?

In Matthew 22:34-40, the evangelist insists we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  The second greatest commandment parallels the first one.  We love our neighbor as ourselves.  These two commandments determine life’s eternal purposes.  As spiritual beings striving to fulfill the will of Almighty God, we serve others with unique gifts our Creator graciously gives to us.  Our love for God is most evident in our love for humankind.  We cannot sever them.  Our growth toward agape which is divine, supreme, selfless and sacrificial love is the objective of genuine spirituality.  Practically, we cultivate willingness to share this love in all our affairs, particularly with people whom we do not like.  Correspondingly, we fundamentally show our love for God.

“The Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16-20) instructs us to go into the world “making disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them all that [Christ] has taught us.”  Fulfilling this mandate of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, gives eternal meaning and purpose to our lives.  Eternity is the canvass on which we paint the portraits of our lives.  Only those brush strokes, colors and hues possessing eternal worth will remain.  Death instantly erases temporary and earthly items.  Yet, images of persons whose lives we touched with the love of Christ and instances in which we fulfil the mission of Christ will withstand the erasing hand of time as it merges with eternity.

Howard Thurman, the great Baptist, mystic theologian, in his book, The Religion of Jesus, posits people fear death because they do not live purposeful lives.  Finding an eternal mission yields purpose.  Otherwise, we squander our earthly pilgrimage to satisfy physical instincts and self-seeking desires.  More significantly, we do not evolve as spiritual beings that honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.  Accordingly, we cannot be certain a spiritual being will leave our bodies and transition to eternal life.

Your Brothers and Sisters at Cambria Heights Community Church

cordially invites you to attend

First Tuesday Prayer Meeting & Third Tuesday Prayer Meeting   

Each Month at 7:00pm

The Sanctuary

Cambria Heights Community Church

116-02 220^th Street

Cambria Heights, NY 11411-1607

(718) 528-2138 phone / (718) 527-7177 fax

Email: chcc11602@yahoo.com

http://www.cambriaheightscc.org

“We are the Community’s Church – Encouraging and Empowering People with Faith to Embrace Life with Christ’s Power.”

First and Third Tuesday Intercessory Prayer Meeting at

Cambria Heights Community Church – 7:00pm in the Sanctuary

In response to an increasing number of significant prayer requests for healing (physical, mental, emotional and relational) and favorable outcomes amidst life’s daily challenges, we gather each First and Third Tuesday of the month at Cambria Heights Community Church for intercessory prayer. 

Your brothers and sisters in the Cambria Heights Community Church family and I invite you to join us in our important spiritual quest for encouragement and empowerment to face life’s challenges with authentic faith and genuine spirituality.  We believe in the power of prayer to Almighty God, the Creator and Father of humankind.  We hope you will join us regardless of your faith tradition.  As children of God, let’s utilize the best of our spiritual and religious practices to support our brothers and sisters in their existential challenges.

We assemble for an extended period of intercessory prayer.  We pray for persons who submit myriad requests for healing and other matters in accordance with James 5:13-16, Romans 4:18-25, Ephesians 3:20 and many other relevant biblical texts.  I invite you to submit names and appropriate details of persons whom you know to need prayer.  We remain and pray for each person by name.  I compile a comprehensive list for the prayer service.  Feel free to join us or to send names and requests.

Genuinely, we will pray to Almighty God with humble petitions to graciously grant healing to our brothers and sisters.  We will pray for freedom from pain, provision of excellent medical care and requisite financial resources, inner comfort and peace, loving support of caretakers, family and friends, and a greater revelation of countless biblical promises of God’s unfailing love and unquestionable faithfulness.

Whether today or some other time, I welcome any petitions you have.  I pledge our faithfulness in lifting your heartfelt concerns in prayer to our Heavenly and Holy Father.  Today, my heart feels a particular concern and burden for my fellow clergy and communities of faith.  Share any appropriate prayer concerns you may have relating to a desire for maximum effectiveness in ministry and the growth of relationships which enable success and excellence in ministry.  As I pray for my colleagues, I greatly solicit your prayers for the CHCC family and me as we more clearly grasp God’s will for our ministry and proceed to accomplish it.

I hope you will be able to join us for this service of healing and prayer.