The Psychiatrist and Proctologist

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OK, I've fixed my numerical issue so after today's blog, I have 214 days until I start my 50th year.

My posts have been pretty sucky lately.

I am really avoiding writing about my time at IFI and our time in Newton as a family.

So...here's a joke:

The Psychiatrist and Proctologist

Two doctors, a psychiatrist and a proctologist, opened an office in a small town and put up a sign reading:
"Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones: Hysterias and Posteriors."

The town council was not happy with the sign, so the doctors changed it to read,
"Schizoids and Hemorrhoids."
This was not acceptable either, so in an effort to satisfy the council, they changed the sign to
"Catatonics and High Colonics."
No go.
Next, they tried
"Manic Depressives and Anal Retentives."
Thumbs down again.
Then came "Minds and Behinds." Still no good.
Another attempt resulted in
"Lost Souls and Butt Holes."
Unacceptable again!
So they tried "Analysis and Anal Cysts."
Not a chance.
"Nuts and Butts?" No way.
"Freaks and Cheeks?" Still no go.
"Loons and Moons?" Forget it.
Almost at their wit's end, the doctors finally came up with:
Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones, "Odds and Ends."
Everyone loved it.

chris

This is not a good sign...

226

Yesterday was a complete "I totally forgot to blog" day.

I was busy, but I didn't even think about it until just now.  That's two I've missed in the last 4 days.  So now I'm doubling-up again.

I will say, my unhealthy fascination with Zombies is coming true...


Causeway Cannibal Attack

Hackensack Man Stabbed Himself, Threw His Skin And Intestines At Officers

Told-ya...

chris

Memorial Day

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Memorial Day (or Decoration Day as it was called down South) has been around since the 1860's.  A time to remember those who lost their lives in war, particularly soliders.

Today it is still a "Patriotic-ish" holiday, even more so since 9/11.  However, it is a grill-out-drink-beer-on-a-Monday type holiday for most.

Growing up, our family spent every Memorial Day with the Van Aermun family.

We lived in Indianola Iowa in the 60's and my parent's met the Van Aernums.  They had Bobby and Suzy who were the same ages as Todd and I.  So we rotated houses each year for Memorial Day weekend.  My parents continued the tradition even after Todd and I were out of the house.

Richard Van Aernum did of a stroke in 2005.

My brother, Eric William Geil is buried in a cemetary in Indianola.  On the years that we would be at the Van Aernum's, we would place flowers at his grave.  The place in the cemetary dedicated to the children and infants is surrounded by a low hedge in the shape of a heart.

I think of my kids. Most of their lives we have been in an active military conflict based upon an attack against us.  Sure, we fiddled around in Easten Europe with the UN. But this has been our military fighting our enemies for over 10 years.

While I was very young, we were getting out of Viet Nam.  There were a lot of bad fellings surrounding that "conflict." And even today, while I technically understand why we were there, I have a hard time understanding it all. I do remember the troops coming home and my Dad making me watch the coverage on television. "You'll remember this for the rest of your life." He said. He was right.

My nephew is in the National Guard.  My Dad was a Marine. My Uncle served in the jungles of Viet Nam.  My mother worked with Veterans in a huge VA Hospital for a good chunk of her adult life.

So I guess today I'm going to take time to "remember."

Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." I Samuel 7:12.

chris

228

228

I've hit th superfunk...

chris

A Saturday Blogging Fail...

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No entry for yesterday (05/27.)

No real excuse other than I kept busy all day (literally) with "preparations" for Jaron's graduation reception until way into the evening. Then Amy and I got to talking and then it was 1 AM and that was that.

So I'll double-up today with something super-spectacular this evening...

I hope.

chris

Summer

Last day in the office until the 2nd week of August.

Yea!

chris

26 years...

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Married to Amy 26 years today!

The Birth of Jaron

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sophomore

1688, "student in the second year of university study," lit. "arguer," altered from sophumer (1653, from sophume, archaic variant form of sophism), probably by influence of folk etymology derivation from Greek. sophos "wise" + moros "foolish, dull."

Sophomores are considered “wise-fools.” They have had one experience of something and think they have it all figured out.  There is, at times, arrogance from sophomores who think that their previous experience qualifies them to be an expert in that area…like school, or having a baby.

Amy and my “sophomore” birth experience was…not what we had previously experienced nor prepared for.

Amy was pregnant for the second time.  It was May and we started anticipating that short labor, quick birth, and easy recovery.  Amy had a new doctor and we were at a new hospital (Centennial Medical Center in Nashville.)

Sometime on the 21^st of May, 1994 Amy began to have contractions.  They were slow in coming and in the middle of the night, we drove to the hospital.

We got settled in the room and we waited, and waited, and waited.  The contractions were inconsistent and not really progressing.  This is pretty typical, but not in our experience.

The Doctor eventually brought in a ultrasound machine, lubed-up Amy’s belly, and wha-la, discovered Jaron was now breach…and big.

We were undeterred. “I’ll just push him out breech!” Amy declared.  “AMEN!” I daftly concurred.  So she proceeded to push. That didn’t work. Then she got an epidural, and though the pain went away, Jaron made no progress.  Finally Jaron’s heart rate would dip during the contractions and the Dr. looked at me and said, “This is now becoming dangerous and we need to do a C-Section.”  I nodded my head and the Dr. turned to Amy and got directly in her face, “We need to do a C-Section right now.”  Amy blearily nodded and off we went to the surgery room.”

I hadn’t been doing anything and I was exhausted. It was now the middle of the day on the 23^rd and I was in scrubs standing in the hallway outside of the surgery room.  It was eerily empty and quiet and I began to privately freak-out a little.  Then a masked surgeon waved me into the room.

It was bright and there was lots of movement in the room.  Amy was strapped onto the bed with a sheet dividing her top half from her bottom half (like a cotton Great Wall of China.) She looked alert and had this look of “I’m just layin’ here” on her face.  There was an anesthesiologist and an attending nurse on the north side of the wall, but on the south side of the wall there was a platoon of people. There were two surgeons, two attending nurses and a nurse assigned to Jaron when he was…extracted.

The anesthesiologist (wearing an orange and white University of Tennessee scrub cap and who talked a bit like Barney Fife) and the nurse were in the midst of a deep and loud conversation:

Ø      BARNEY FIFE: Have you seen that movie “Maverick?”

Ø      NURSE: No.

Ø      BARNEY FIFE: Like the old TV show with the James Bond guy, remember?

Ø      NURSE: Sean Connery?

Ø      BARNEY FIFE: No, Roger Moore.  Anyway, Mel Gibson is in this movie “Maverick.”

Ø      NURSE: And he plays Roger Moore?

Ø      BARNEY FIFE: No. he plays James Garner.

Ø      NURSE: I thought James Garner was in “Maverick.”

Ø      BARNEY FIFE: He Was Maverick in the TV show but now Mel Gibson is playing Maverick in the movie and James Garner is in the Movie playing Mel Gibson’s dad….(etcetera after inane etcetera)

I look down at Amy, helpless. Then the Surgeon looks at me and says, “Wanna watch?”

At that point I could have stayed north of the wall, in safety and gazed into my beautiful wife’s face and comforted her and whispered how much I loved her and was proud of her…

“Sure!” I responded, and south of the wall I went.

Although I only took one step to my left, it was as if I had entered an alien world.  I glanced to my right and there is the love of my life, lying there.  I glace to my left, and I’m on the set of The Discovery Channel.

There is a mound of sheets with an orange rectangle in the middle (self-absorbed UT Doctors.)  I quickly deduced that the “orange rectangle” was in fact, Amy.

I had seen many movies where people had been stabbed with knives and it seemed that in those cases the blade would slip into a person like that first butter knife into the margarine tub…in reality, not so much.  Surgeon #1 took the scalpel and began to saw, like someone cutting into a rare T-bone.  It took him awhile.  Then there was a layer of sub-dermal fat that had to be cut through, then the muscle.  This all took (from my perception) forever.

Ø      AMY: What are they doing, Chris?

Ø      ME: Uhhhh, you don’t want to know.

Then Surgeon #2 pulls out what looks like a soldering iron or wand from a Wood Burning kit and begins to cauterize, or sear the capillaries.  There was smoke rising from the incision.

Ø      ME: Is he searing the edge of the incision?

Ø      SURGEON #2: Yes.

Ø      BARNEY FIFE: Like I always say, if you smell something burning, that’s you! YukYukyukYuk…

Surgeon #1 then reaches into the crevasse and pulls out…Amy’s bladder. He wraps it in (what looks like) The Tennessean’s funny papers and lays it on her belly.

Jaron’s attending nurse comes to my elbow and said, “Because he’s been developing breach in the womb, his legs will likely sick straight up when the Dr. pulls him out.  This is normal. I didn’t want you to be alarmed.”

Meanwhile, Surgeon #1 is rooting around in “the orange rectangle” up to his elbow as if he’s feeling around for his car keys in some twisted Carol Burnett Show skit with Tim Conway & Harvey Corman (obscure reference, but accurate description.)

Ø      AMY: What are they doing now, Chris?

Ø      ME: I think the Dr. is looking for his wallet.

Finally, Surgeon #1 yanks out Jaron.

True to the prediction, Jaron’s heals pop directly to each of his ears as if they were spring loaded.

Surgeon #1 hands me the scissors and I snip the umbilical cord. The Nurses immediately take Jaron to a station and make sure he’s suctioned out (the birthing process naturally squeezes most of that gunk out.)  They cleaned him off (he was super cheesy) and they laid him across Amy’s chest.

He was over 8 lbs. He was long. He had a perfect little head. And he was perfectly content.

Amy and I had our 8^th wedding anniversary meal in the hospital that next evening.  We couldn’t have had a better gift!

chris

(Happy Birthday)

BBQ Lays Potato Chips

@11:40PM I was eating Lays BBQ Potato chips, and I was still up.

This is my problem.

chris

Seriously "Bad Luck" or Incredibly "Good Luck"

Seriously "Bad Luck" or Incredibly "Good Luck"

The Mermaid ship was sailing for four days before it wrecked due to bad weather. An intense storm stroked the ship and it broke apart. The crew could do nothing but to swim to the closest land, where they were saved by:

The ship Swiftsure. But, their new ship wrecked after the lost battle against a strong current. Their lives were unsafe once again, but not for long. Only eight hours after the wreck:

Governor Ready ship saved them once again. It had already 32 people on it and full cargo of timber, but saved the whole crews of The Mermaid and Swiftsure. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the end of their problems. Governor Ready was caught by fire, which spread easily thanks to timbers. The ship was abandoned:

The Comet saved their lives hours later. That was the ship which finally got them back to Sydney. Bizarre but true, The Comet sank five days later. The crew was saved by:

The ship Jupiter, which, amazingly, wrecked 12 hours after:

The ship The City of Leeds saved their lives, and finally the bad luck finished.

chris

"The Community"

235

ACTS 4:32-36

"32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need."

The Bible has a lot of narrative dedicated to two "communities" in the Bible.  The first is the Jews wandering in the desert for 40 years. The second is the church in Jerusalem.

The church in Jerusalem was kind of a "feel-good" story at the beginning.  There seemed to be a "communal" feel going on and kind of a "hippy-dippy" love-vibe happening.  That communal "togetherness" has been a reoccuring inspiration throughout history.  Grooups of christians have endevoured to live together in a community setting since AD30.  Sam often talked of living on a communal farm with other christian families where there would be a sharing of resources and fellowship and proximity.  Every night we would all hold hands around a campfire and sing, "Kum-By-Ya."  (Pretty quickly in Acts the "good-feeling" vibe turned into "fear-of-the-Lord" and the deaths of Annanias & Saphira.)

With IFI, Sam and I got to be a part of that "communal" experience.  We just never imagined it would be us-together and in a prison.

Although we referred to Acts oftern (as we should have) I likened our collective IFI experience (most specifically, the mens) and a "40-years of Desert Wandering."  The men had been enslaved (and they had embraced their slavery-even sought it out) and were now in a time of trial and testing.  They were in a time of purging in prison, and there was a promised land that would either be filled with un-defeatable giants or milk and honey, depending on the manner in which they "wandered."

Unit "E" was a testing ground.  It was a pressure cooker that would simultaneously highlight weaknesses, build up strengths, reveal sin, and expose hearts.

IFI broke the only code universally held by all prison participants, "You do your time and I'll do mine."

Generally, prison is to be endured.  Most guys keep their heads down if they can, thry not to hustle or get caught hustling. They are there to lift weights, smoke, watch some TV, possibly hook-up with some future "associates" and get out.

There are those young guys and guys with personality disorders that can't keep out of "the mess." They are too hyper, immature, oppositional/defiant, or straight evil to keep their heads down, but mostly, guys are just trying to "make it through."

IFI was the opposite.  We intently looked at what was happening in your relationships in the Community and on the yard.  We looked at those who were "sucking-up" those who were "hiding" those who were "knuckle-heads" and those who were straight "evil" with a desire to change.

Mostly, I just watched what went on.  I listened to conversations.  I looked at how men reacted to the inevitable conflict or crisis.  I looked for women to leave them of out of state detainers to show up.  I looked for money problems or room mate problems.  I watched how men endured injustice and unfairness.  All of theses things happened in the community.  I didn't have to manufacture anything.

All I had to have was an "ear to hear and an eye to see."

chris

Stuck

Really tired.  Stuck, actually.

Trying to get motivated.

chris

SCHOOL'S OUT!

chris

Last day with students 2011-2012

Last day with kids...

chris

"Program Manager"

239

My job description at IFI was to “manage the program” hence my title, “Program Manager.”

There was a lot to manage.

Unit “E” had 242 beds.  Those beds were going to be filled.  So we had a variety of inmates at different parts of their sentences and different places in the program.

Each “Class” was numbered (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) and the program was designed to last 18-months in prison.  There were 4, 3-month quarters in Phase I (the first year.) There was a 6-month Phase II.  Finally there were Phases III & IV when an inmate was released from the Penitentiary into AfterCare.

The IFI program was modeled after a faith-based prison in Brazil. Our program in Iowa was modeled after the first US IFI program in Texas.

Initially, a counselor would be assigned to a class for their entire IFI curriculum (18-months.) That presented some obvious concerns. If Sam Dye was your counselor, then you would have 18-months of insightful teaching and programming.  If Mickey was your counselor for 18-months, you were in for 18-months of psychosis.

The 30 days prior to the start of the 18-month marathon, the class would go through “Orientation.”  They would learn about the aspects of the program.  The counselor would meet with them, answer any questions they may have, and eventually determine if they were in a place to be successful in the program.

During orientation each member of the up-coming class would present their “Life Story” that is, they would visually represent their life on a giant piece of news paper and chronicle their journey from birth to their current incarceration.  (I will write an entire Blog about “Life Stories” at a later date.)

There were also men waiting in the unit to get into orientation.  And, there were men finished with the curriculum portion, but they were not ready for work-release or parole.

We had some very short-term men (6 to 12 months) and some very long-term men (Lifers.)  We had 18-year-old 1^st time offenders and

There were several hundred volunteers in our data-base with 10-20 coming in to teach evening curriculum each night.

We also had Friday night “Revival Service” with different churches (and when I say “different” I mean in every way possible) coming to the Gym every Friday night.

There was a plethora of denominational and theological backgrounds represented in the volunteer base, and for the most part, people would lay down their “distinctives” and focus on Jesus.

It was during this time that the name and person of Jesus began to far-outshine any of my theology, pet beliefs, or prejudices.

It was an overwhelming task, and it needed over-haul.

It made for an exhausting first year.

chris

John Edwards

240

 In light of my blog about the concept of “recognizing you are lost.”  Check out one of the possible “tactics” the John Edwards defense team is using in his “miss-use-of-campaign-contributions” trial.

A synopsis of the case: John Edwards used campaign contributions (around a million dollars) to cover-up an affair he was having while his wife was dying of cancer.

That’s illegal.

Here is a defense strategy his lawyers have hinted they might pursue:

A difference between “the” and “a.”

The federal law states that campaign contributions are to be used solely for the use of election or re-election of the candidate.

Get that? “the use,” not “a use.”

The defense team suggests that:

> IF the only purpose of campaign contributions is to get the candidate elected or re-elected…

>THEN John Edwards’ spending $1,000,000.00 of campaign contributions to cover-up his affair while his wife is dying of cancer is allowable…

>BECAUSE the cover-up would contribute to his getting elected or re-elected because, after all, who would want to elect a douche-bag who cheats on his wife while she is dying of cancer? (douche-bag reference added by me.)

Solid, yet evil syllogistic logic if ever I heard it.

Does any of that kind of thinking sound familiar?

Here are some Bill Clinton quotes during the “Monica Lewinsky” investigation:

“It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is." –Bill Clinton, during his 1998 grand jury testimony on the Monica Lewinsky affair

"It depends on how you define alone…" –Bill Clinton, in his grand jury testimony

"There were a lot of times when we were alone, but I never really thought we were." –Bill Clinton, in his grand jury testimony

And just for fun:

"Politics gives guys so much power that they tend to behave badly around women. And I hope I never get into that." –Bill Clinton, to a woman friend while he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford

"I may not have been the greatest president, but I've had the most fun eight years." –Bill Clinton

Does it sound like Slick Willy or John Edwards realize they are lost?

chris

For more info about the John Edwards case: Jon Edwards is a bigger DB than I thought he was.

The Art of Being “Lost.”

241

My blogs have been pretty "sucky" the past week or so.  I do not apologize.  However, I am going to give an effort as I lay some more groundwork to describe The InnerChange Freedom Initiative(IFI.)

There fore I'm going to write some blog entries about "Being Lost."

There are many factors when being “lost.”

FACTOR #1: You have a destination.

In the swimming pool, people just float around. They splash water and lay on air-mattresses.  They have no where to go.  If you asked them, “Are you lost?” They would probably respond, “Uhhhh, no. It’s a pool.”

FACTOR #2: Realizing you are lost.

When I lived in Nashville, I felt like I quickly got a handle on what roads went where.  I studied the street maps and could get everywhere I needed to go.

One particular Saturday I was taking my guitar to an “open-mic night” to sing a couple of songs.  It was at a little place in the Northeast quadrant of the city.  I took off driving from Bellevue and about an hour later I found myself pulling into Murfreesboro, very much SOUTH of Nashville.

I got lost.

If you would have asked me during my trip if I knew where I was going, I would have (quite smugly) stated, “Hey, I got this. I don’t get lost. I know exactly where I’m going.”

I didn’t recognize I was lost, nor did I feel the need to ask for directions…because I knew where I was going.

FACTOR 3: Admitting you are lost.

Here is a car-conversation I have had more than once with my wife.

AMY: Do you know where you are going?

ME: What? Of course…you know me. Ha! Not know where I’m going? Pshaw!

AMY: Seriously, where are we?

ME: Where are we? Why we’re just right over by that one place near that thing by the side of the road…you know…

AMY: We should pull over and ask for directions.

ME: Pull over? What? I thought you wanted to get there on time.  Those dudes don’t look reliable. They won’t know how to get there…I’d have to tell them how to get there because they won’t know…

SO…

If you have a destination, but you don’t know how to get there or if you thought you were getting there and you realize that you are not getting there and you don’t know where you are and you admit that fact…

You are still lost…

More to come.

chris

I Love Jaron

I love Jaron.

chris

A fun day today...

Went to Christian's show @2.

Went to eat at Fric-Frack's for the 3-taco special.

Ran around KC with my Mom and Dad.

Ate ice cream.

Sat around and talked.

Fun day!

chris

14 chickens don't make a pastery shop

If all it was nonsense,  my porcupine wouldn't need a facelift!

chris

(sorry)

President Obama? Gay Marriage?

245

So the president "changed" his position on "Gay Marriage?"

That's a shocker.

Will I get into that here?

No.

chris

408,425 Children

246

408,42

That's how many children were in Foster Care in the US last year.

The average stay in Foster Care is 28 months.

At a staff meeting today for the alternative school I work at we were discussing meeting the needs of the whole person as opposed to targeting very specific behaviors and, for lack of a better turn, ignoring certain other aspects of a kid's life because, quite frankly, we just don't have the time.

Think of over 400,000 kids, disrupted from their family, even if that disruption is good, and most of them are school-aged.  What are we to do

It is a daunting-task. Impossible, really.

Yet that was why I was so excited about IFI. We had THE answer.

That answer was a person, Jesus.

chris

Today is my 49th birthday.

Today is my 49^th birthday.

I have 237 days until I start my 50^th year, January 1^st, 2013.

In some ways, this blog has not done what I wanted it to do for me.

I thought I would be about 30 lbs lighter by now, but I’m only 12 lbs lighter.

I though I would be in better shape, but my shape has remained consistent, that being “round.”

I don’t think I even necessarily have any more interpersonal insight.

Yet,

A couple of things have happened…

I’ve had a great time remembering all of the King’s Daughters’ experiences. That has made me very happy.

I’ve been thinking about the men of IFI and that makes me happy as well.

The lump in my hip has gotten substantially smaller.

I get to be in two shows this summer, one with Eric.

So…

Here’s to an even more productive 2^nd half of 2012.

chris

Freshman Showcase

248

It was a full-day Saturday.  I was having some "front-end noise" from the ManVan so I got up early (7 AM Eastern/6AM body-clock) to find out what was wrong.  It was something I could kind of live with (It would have to get worked on Monday) so I just let it rattle.

We walked around the University of Cincinnati Campus and neighborhood. We saw Collin's new place ad went down to where Eric will be living in the Fall.  Amy and I went to the bookstore, Rana went with Eric to this dorm room and Jaron & Wes went to watch the UC spring football practice at the stadium.

We ate at "Big Al's" with Collin, then Eric went to get ready.

For Freshman Showcase, the class has to pick a theme, pick the songs, assign solos & groups, and choreograph the showcase (about an hour long performance.) They have to work on the flow and make it entertaining. It has to be like any other show in that it has to display them as a whole class or cast and not just a bunch of individual cabaret performers waiting for their solos. They take great pride in this and there is pressure from past showcases to be great. They talked about their showcase the very first day they arrived on campus.

It seems to be an exercise in the process of putting together a show. It causes students who have usually been, by far, the most talented person in their home town high school to suddenly work with 17 other people who are just as (if not far more) talented than they are. It is a gut-punch for some. This is a “safe” way to work through some of those issues.

It does showcase their 1st year’s growth especially when some of the class has not been cast in a show all year.

The Freshman Showcase counts as a class for credit and they work closely with the pianist and vocal-arranger. It gives him a chance to assess the students in a rehearsal situation without the risk of holding-up an actual show.

The Freshman Showcase gives the class all a place to work on their interpersonal skills (or how to tolerate other’s lack of interpersonal skills.)

The Theme was "Friended" and it was fantastic

Eric was fantastic (especially in the tap number "Brotherhood of Man."),


chris

I Like Driving a Van-Haiku

249

12:30 we left

Eleven hours later

We were in KC

chris

A long, sweaty day.

250

In Cincy for Eric's showcase.

Lots of walking in the humidity.

Lots of sweating.

Showcases were fantastic.

chris

Snooze you lose!

251

Amy, Jaron, Wesley, Rana and I are in Cincinnati to see Eric's Freshman Showcase tomorrow.

We picked Eric up at around 4:30.

I asked hm where he wanted to eat and he said, "Anywhere but here."

We ate near our hotel (in Norwood) and came back to our rooms.  Within 15 minutes Eric was asleep on one of the beds.  Then Jaron was asleep next to him, then Wesley, then Rana went to her room and fell asleep.

I was willing to take them all to "The Avengers" at 9:40, but they are all asleep.

Snooze you lose!

chris

The Day I Got Saved

252

I got saved May 3rd, 1980.

Sam Dye baptized me at the Whitebreast area of Red Rock Lake on that day.

It was also the day of my Junior Prom.

It had been a hard school year and a hard 16th year for me in general.

I remember going under the water, coming up, and knowing it was all different.

It was a great day.

chris

A Frustrating Day

253

I had a frustrating day.

What did God put on this earth to make my day a little better?

Nutella.

Nutella USA

chris

I guess if I’m naming names, I’m going to name them. (More Battles on Multiple Fronts)

254

After a short time at IFI there were two counselors in particular that I had concerns about. One of them was Mickey.

She was a person with a colorful history. Apparently she had a troubled past and was the recipient of some of Prison Fellowship’s ministries.  She was from England and had the accent.  She was (I believe) Sri Lankan by decent.  She was specifically our substance abuse counselor.  Reportedly, she had a nursing degree and had worked as a nurse in some sort of treatment capacity.  She did not display good boundaries within the prison so she drove security crazy.  After a few conversations with her, I had my doubts that she had any credentials at all.  Mercifully, before the end of my first year, she was no longer with IFI.

Gary was another counselor I had concerns about, not so much that he was unethical or dangerous in any way, quite the opposite. He was so loving and empathetic. He really cared for his guys, and they cared for him.  It was that he became so enmeshed with his men, he would over-advocate and get tunnel-visioned and ultimately bamboozeled by guys wanting to take advantage of him.

I think Gary liked me (I certainly liked him) but he was very suspicious of me because I was a “tongue-talker.”  Gary had graduated for the same Bible College I had attended, so I knew he would struggle with my “practices.”  The ironic part was that, to me, Gary was clearly prophetic, especially when he prayed.  We had a baptism service on the unit one time and Gary would pray for the men he was baptizing. Before long he wasn’t just praying nice prayers of blessing, he was proclaiming their future with statements like, “You will go on and be a blessings to the Nations!” which elicited a shout from within me. I looked over at Gene Feagan and he was nodding and shaking his arm (which was one of those Holy Spirit manifestations I’d seen from him many times.)  Gary would weep for his men. Actually, he was so tender-hearted he would weep often.

Bur Gary was very knowledge-based and he resisted the notion that some of the Charismatic stuff he was so opposed to was actually the very ingredient needed for not only the men, but his own life.  Unfortunately, his black and white thinking, his sense of justice, and his over-advocacy for his men got the better of him and before my first year at IFI was out, he was gone.

chris