SET MY FEET IN A BROAD PLACE

Our time at The Church of the Good Shepherd was marked by many moving events, thoughtful sermons, our daughter's wedding, rummage sales and lasting friendships. It also was marked by knowing an extraordinary group of people with a great deal of faith. One of those was Ginny Johnson, who consistently stood for service to those imprisoned.

Like many people, I neither supported nor criticized her effort. The old adage seemed to fit, "Do the crime, and do the time." I knew her effort involved sacrifice and commitment and for that I appreciated her perseverance but did not understand what was behind this outreach.

When we moved to Goochland County last year, I struggled to find an outreach activity. A member of the local United Methodist church was discussing her outreach activities and said, "We need to get into the prisons and minister in those facilities." There are at least five prisons in the county or neighboring county. I thought about that.

Later, Jesus spoke to me and told me He wanted me to volunteer and teach the prisoners. I was scared, and I was excited. Was I also out of my mind? No, I truly believed that Jesus wanted me to pursue this knowing that I had been blessed and could offer something to those who for one reason or another were incarcerated. As Jesus said in Matthew 25:36: "I was in prison and ye came unto me."

I made the contacts and began teaching a class in Creative Non-Fiction at the James River Correctional Institute in State Farm, Va., in Goochland County. The group of six or seven meets regularly with me behind iron bars every Tuesday evening. We are developing work that perhaps can one day be published, or not. It does not matter. What does matter is that we are searching for the truth and trying to understand the human condition. The writer is forced to examine his habits, background, honesty and abilities to create. We strive to encourage writing in each other, developing techniques to "show" rather than "tell" our story to the reader. Along the way we practice and read and remember that Jesus was also a prisoner.

Do I enjoy this task, you might ask? And I would tell you that it still scares me to walk into that place, hear the gate lock behind me, see the presence of guards watching everything, be patted down and have my belongings searched and feel the emptiness and loneliness of incarceration. And I would also tell you that it is the highlight of my week, the challenge of a lifetime and a blessing to be able to work with my faith. I am blessed, and I thank Ginny Johnson, who left a lasting memory in my mind. The Psalmist was correct, "You have set my feet in a broad place."

— Scott Tilley

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist