Finding God in Juvenile Detention
By Pastor Terri Stewart
“WHERE IS GOD?”
That is the cry that I often hear from kids in detention as they look back at their lives. Or, “I feel closer to God in here than I do when I’m on the outs!”
This is rapidly followed by wondering why God is not present in their lives when they are at home but present here. I say to them, “It’s not that God ever leaves you, but that here, you are slowed down enough to be awake to God’s presence.”
Slow Down.
Be awake.
Begin Again.
In my online community, www.BeguineAgain.com, our Wednesdays are devoted to be a pause where we can reflect on being spiritually awake to the presence of the Divine and when we feel the absence of the Divine in our spiritual sleepfulness. The questions are: “Where have you felt the presence of God over the past week?” and “Where have you felt most separated from God?”
I felt the presence of God most keenly on Christmas morning inside the juvenile detention center.
I went into the detention center to celebrate Christmas morning with the youth in detention. My job was to be the photographer for the center (chaplains do a bit of everything!) Volunteers came in—we had Santa, an elf, a choir (with kazoos!), a tree, and presents galore! The youth came into the welcoming environment that was created with a stunned expression on their face. Then, like all of us when presented with a tree that has lots of gifts, they passed out the presents and got down to the serious work.
We proceeded through opening of presents and were getting towards the end of the morning. There was a young man who had recently come into detention so had been segregated for his first 24 hours—what gift would he expect? He came in and there were Christmas gifts even for him. Even with his name on the gifts. Gifts donated by fabulous Seattle area churches.
The image I want to paint is of a very big, tough, young man! Standing, he was probably 2’ taller than me. Maybe that says too much about me! He received and then opened his gifts.
One of the gifts was a little box with doo-dads like candies, a Bible, and a personal note. This big young man sat down with the note to read it and struggled with his reading. A staff person helped him out, reading the note to him. If you could see the compassion on her face! It took my breath away.
After the note was read, he stood up and began to gather his stuff together. Then he stopped. He looked like someone had struck him hard enough to stun him. He paused and put his hand over his eyes and he sat back down. His staff checked in with him and he waved her off with an “I’m all right” kind of wave. He then took several moments to collect himself after receiving a gift of loving kindness in the most unexpected of places.
He slowed down, absorbed the compassion of strangers, and was able to begin again.
This all happened at the back of the room while the rest of the room was bustling with kids and staff opening presents, the choir singing, Santa ho-ho-ho-ing, and sharing love, laughter, and joy. But there was this one moment of stunning transformation aided by a caring staff, witnessed by a heart-torn chaplain, when one youth truly became awake to the presence of God’s love even in such a place as the detention center. And for me, just being awake to the movement of the spirit, I was able to witness a movement of grace.
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| Opening Ourselves to Grace (D4607) Opening Ourselves to Grace offers viewers a way to understand the basic concept of grace as it states the theological expression of God’s love for humanity and for each individual. Playing off of the metaphor of musicians practicing their craft, this DVD is divided into four, 13-minute segments that define grace in light of works of piety and mercy. This resource includes DVD, leader’s guide, Bible study and resources for further discussion. |
A Different Kind of Christmas (D1023) In this five-week study participants will see the traps and discontentment of consumerism and experience the call of God to live generously to fulfill God’s mission in the world. Sessions are about 13 minutes long and cover these topics: Expect a Miracle; Giving Up on Perfect; Scandalous Love; Jesus’ Wish List; and By a Different Road. Leader guide is included. Young Adult; Adult (30-55); Adult (55+) |
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| Channels 70, February 2014 (COMING SOON!) Remembering Bishop Jack M. Tuell • The District Service Center is Open for Business • HFCA Welcomes Rose Mangini as Sponsor Coordinator • Opposition to Iran Nuclear Weapons-Free Act • UMs help communities rise up on the frontline in the Philippines • Finding God in Juvenile Detention • On the Shelf February Resources • Musings & Younger Perspectives: Don’t Feed the Trolls! • An Open Letter to the UMC • Rich Lang: Looking Good on Wood • Adapting to Lead: A Way Forward… • Nurturing Elders: Making Friends with Grief |
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