NEXT MEETING: July 9,
author Lori Smith:
“The Pros & Cons of Self-Publishing
and Traditional Publishing”
Editor's note: Each month, the CCW blog features one of our
members. This month, Susan Lyttek talks about how her correspondence with a
prisoner inspires her to write.
For a long while, I had an on-again, off-again
correspondence with a prisoner, “Joe,” in California.
Between gang involvement and years of drug abuse, Joe found himself in jail.
While inside, his life changed forever. The hallucinations that accompanied his
drug withdrawal led to his unknowingly murdering a fellow prisoner. Now, he knew
he’d never see the outside again. But between our years of writing and prison
Bible studies, he came to Christ. In lucid moments, this gave Joe hope of an
eternal life and true freedom.
In spite of his limitations, Joe tried to give. Knowing I
had two young sons, he would draw pictures and cartoons as presents for them.
One time, when I thanked him for a cartoon my older son particularly enjoyed,
his return response was something I never will forget.
“I’m glad to do something to return what you have given me
and your prayers. I fully realize that if you met me in life, I’d probably
scare you. Between the damage I’ve done to my body, plus the tattoos and
piercings, I’m not a pretty sight. But I’m glad that when I do meet you in
heaven someday, you’ll be proud to call me a brother in Christ.”
Wow. The thought of who Joe appeared as in the flesh and the
reality of our heavenly relationship floored me. Even more, I felt blessed by
what God had allowed my words to do—to reach a supposedly unlovely person and
see the value and beauty of that human soul.
For the next couple of years, my letters from Joe grew more
erratic. He told me the hallucinations had become increasingly frequent—often
threatening to cause himself or others harm. Many letters arrived written in
crayon because he had stabbed himself with both pens and pencils. Then the
messages stopped. A few months later, one of my letters was returned, unopened.
I assumed Joe had died.
I grieved for the loss of our correspondence and his
presence. My boys also missed his pictures. The hole Joe left in our lives was
real.
But in the midst of my grief, Joe’s words echoed through my
memories: “…but in heaven, someday, you’ll be proud to call me a brother in
Christ.”
I write, as I think most Christian writers do, to touch my
unlovely companions on this sphere with God’s beautiful grace. I knew Joe
because, as my pen pal, he told me things about himself. How many others do our
words of eternity reach? Those people we never see face to face, and people who
would never cross our path could well benefit from our words?
So think of Joe and write that devotion. Publish that blog.
Finish that book. Write what God calls you to write in obedience so the words
bear the fruit of lovely souls.
And always keep in mind that someday, we’ll be proud to call
them brothers and sisters in Christ.
