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| Spider webs can be hard to see, but they illustrate intricate relationships... |
During
the summer, in addition to lots of spiders, snakes and other assorted wildlife
at Miles Pond, I get the opportunity to hang out with some really cool
people. One such group of people is my
chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The DAR, no stranger to justice issues, embraces
its mission in today’s world by being “dedicated to promoting patriotism,
preserving American history, and securing America's future through better
education for children.” It sounds
almost cliché, but it is not as I have seen this mission brought to life by the
members of The St. John de Crevecoeur Chapter.
One such inspirational illustration is our Vice Regent, Linda
Clark. Linda volunteers her time at the
Grafton County Jail to assist residents in getting their GED (General Education
Development) Diplomas by preparing for and taking a series of tests. Linda became involved in the program through
her church, but was able to able to arrange for our DAR Chapter to take a tour
of the new Grafton County Jail in North Haverhill, New Hampshire on July 17th. In hindsight, I’m not sure what I was
expecting, but what I learned, and more importantly felt will stay with me
forever.
On the
morning of the jail tour, I greeted the pond during my morning walk. I found a spider web outside of our cabin,
and it captivated me. I was mesmerized
when I saw how the web showed the myriad of relationships among many different
segments. I saw one spider racing
across the surface while other critters were stuck, unable to recover from that
one, false and damning step. If the sun
had not glistened against the threads just so, I too would have been captured in its silky,
yet invisibly sticky lines. This image
stayed with me the entire day as I began the tour and listened to Lieutenant
Kendall discuss not only how this new jail offered more modern facilities, but
how the new jail complex represented the philosophical changes in criminal
justice systems as well. Lieutenant
Kendall discussed programs, like Linda’s church ministry and GED programs,
that are offered in order to rehabilitate prisoners so that they can serve
their time and upon release, live productive lives. Novels like Catcher in the Rye and Les
Miserables were the first to pop into my head. If only these prisoners in the Grafton County Jail could have been
“caught” before they fell off that first cliff, spiraling into their behavior
and crimes that led them here. If only
they all had saviors like Bishop Myriel was to Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les
Miserables. Not only did the
Bishop’s intervention offer Valjean redemption, but Valjean’s redemption in
turn led to salvation for others…many others.
He, like Salinger’s protagonist Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in
the Rye, caught them all, and I have a deep sense of gratitude,
appreciation and profound respect in my heart for all of the employees and
volunteers who serve these people each and every day, offering them an
opportunity for redemption and salvation.
I could
tell you that the world we live in can be a very dangerous place, but the news
reminds us of this every day. Sometimes
it makes us feel like we might want to lock ourselves away in our own
homes and never come out again. After all, each one of us has
been affected in one way or another by people who break the law, and perhaps we
have even felt a self-righteous surge of pleasure when “justice” was served in
one form or another. I know that I
have. What I can’t illustrate in this
blog is the heartbreaking feeling deep in my soul as I heard about prison
programs for pregnant women or read their poems, saw their collages. What I can’t explain is the scary feeling in
my stomach when all of the DAR ladies crowded, and then were locked into, the
transition chamber before entering the various blocks or pods of the
prison. Looking from the control room
into their cells, into their eyes as we looked at them and they watched us
haunts me still. I wanted to reach out
and save them all, but how do I help?
Having been a mom, teacher, boy scout volunteer, prayer warrior and
youth group sponsor for the past 26 years, I do try to proactively support
parents in helping students to become productive citizens who know (and do)
right from wrong. But now, with this new
experience from touring the Grafton County Jail, I want to integrate and thread
this knowledge into what I already do to save them all. I have this heavy feeling that my salvation may
depend on it…
We are
all intricately, even though sometimes invisibly, connected, so “that's all I'd
do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but
that's the only thing I'd really like to be."
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| Welcome to the Grafton County Jail! |
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| Philosophical changes in criminal justice have changed the way jails look. |
