Read about how the Light is being shared in prison from our Chaplain healing reports and letters.

July - September 2024

Corresponding Chaplain: A gentleman I have been corresponding with for almost five years is getting ready to be released. He asked for prayers because he is afraid he might go back to his old ways. I reassured him with articles and verses that remind him that God is always his guide. He has made many positive strides while incarcerated…read more

Corresponding Chaplain: I continue to write to 13 men in 3 different states. Two new referrals came from a fellow who I have been writing to for a year. He has demonstrated a growing interest in Christian Science, has shared Science and Health and given a copy away, has shared the joy of the Bible Lessons with other fellows, and has asked that two of his incarcerated friends start receiving my letters and Bible Lessons. Letters I receive often state how the Bible Lessons have met a particular need as they are read and studied. [read more…]

Corresponding Chaplain: An incarcerated man, whom I have been writing to for years, seemed overwhelmed with what he thought was a conspiracy by the doctors in the prison; he feared they were injecting the men with poison. He said he was grateful he could tell them he was a Christian Scientist and therefore didn’t have to have the shots. The reports of these allegations have been the main discussion in his letters. In addition to this, he has had a rash all over his body that he says keeps him from sleeping. He has asked me to pray for him, and I have done so. For many months, in addition to prayer, my letters explain that each of us is a child of God and that our job is to not judge others, including the doctors, but to work out our own salvation. I have shared with him that we don’t pray to “fix” our bodies and that even though the rash seems real, it is actually an illusion. Imagine my joy and gratitude when I received this letter from him: “This is the most important letter I’ve ever written to you. I just received your letter and as you pointed out, we, as God’s perfection, never need to be fixed. The rash is gone and so is the itching. It was an illusion by Satan. You wrote that we all need to work out our own salvation in Christ. I’m certain that this is true.” What a rewarding position it is to serve as a Christian Science Chaplain and to witness God’s work in action! [read more…]

Chaplain: The two individuals new to CS asked really good questions about whether God causes sickness and natural disasters, and the Bible Lesson on God, the Only Cause and Creator, answered them well. Also, one man found in this lesson an explanation for why he didn’t get COVID when so many others had. He said he just wouldn’t believe in it. His elation at the lesson’s explanation of the mental nature of disease and the spiritual mandate to prevent it was visible on his face. After the session, my fellow chaplain brought it to my attention that the guys were leaning forward on the edge of their seats, so engaging was the conversation. There was one “disappointment” this month. On my first scheduled visit alone and without my fellow CS chaplain, I called the staff chaplain to escort me on arrival and he told me that a man had tried to escape so the whole prison was shut down. I was deflated. My round-trip commute is 3 hours. But I told the staff chaplain I would wait in the visitor cafeteria for a while in case anything changed or, since I was there, could I help him with anything? To my surprise, he graciously met me in the café, and we sat down and had a wonderful conversation for about an hour. I asked him many questions about his work, and he shared much insight and wisdom that will be very useful to me going forward. We also shared our love of the Bible and its application to prison work. My disappointment melted away as I realized that this was a God-given blessing for me to connect with him, when otherwise he is so often busy.

The Christ fellowship at the table was palpably present among us. One man was from Armenia, an immigrant who spoke broken English. It was pointed out that Armenians were historically the first to practice the Christian faith and practice. In broken English when introducing ourselves at the table, the Armenian man said, … Click here to read the full report..

A woman submitted a request form for “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.” Since she knew the full title of the book and its  author, I added her to my list for visits. She had been transferred … Click here to read the full report.

Two new incarcerated women started coming to the main yard services at the encouragement of one of them that has been very impressed with Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (which one of them had and was reading). They both have been reading it now. They were both in a room … Click here to read the full report.

I was at the Juvenile Justice Center every Saturday in December and what a blessing. I had a total of 17 one-on-ones, many “bench” talks, some great talks with several of the staff members, about a half-hour talk with another Chaplain, and gave almost all the youths a bit of something to think about every week. Most of the youths are very familiar with me and I greet them all by going around the room and chatting. I did two fun things this month when I went around. I have a puzzle you do with six coins where you ask them to make two rows of four coins each. It is impossible if you are thinking one dimensional, … Click here to read the full report.

I’m very grateful to say that there are now seven inmates requesting Christian Science chaplain visits. One inmate speaks very little English, though he is trying to learn. Amazingly, I had started to take Spanish lessons again to brush up on my rusty Spanish a few weeks before this gentleman requested to see me. Our first visit saw me telling him that since Dios es Todo-en-todo and Dios es Amor; entonces Amor es Todo-en-todo. I told him that he is loved and asked if he knew “el Padre Nuestro,” which he did and recited for me in Spanish. It was beautiful! I went to the Reading Room after our visit, bought 2 Spanish Science and Healths, and took one back to jail. By the next visit, … Click here to read the full report.

Gratitude has been a theme with whomever I’m talking with during my visits. So far no one is put off by my asking what they are grateful for. They can always think of something. One inmate likes to think of five things he’s grateful for before he goes to sleep at night. He’s been reading Science and Health enthusiastically. Mary Baker Eddy mentions her book Retrospection and Introspection in Science and Health, and he said he really wanted to read about her life. I brought him a Prose Works and he is enjoying it very much. Another man I’m seeing is very well versed in the Bible. The first time I saw him…Click here to read the full report.

Another COVID virus shutdown of prisons in California. One is tempted to think this is the “new normal.” Reminds me of the “Godzilla” fires last summer where I live in the northern Sierras. It was called “A Big Palooza” because several monster wildfires conjoined into one big deliriously consuming Godzilla-like fire that fed on its destructive rage, leaping over large bodies of water, consuming townships and creating smoke plumes that looked Godzilla. Impressed?
Where I lived there were long lines at the gas pumps and peo…Click here to read the full report.

An incarcerated individual with whom I correspond asked for prayerful help for an injury and reported a healing of his shoulder. We were talking about dealing with struggles from a divine perspective. Paul helped us, in his second letter to the Church of Corinth, Chapter 12. Here Paul discusses the “thorn in his side:” … Click here to read the full report.